Ephemeral Solidified Light; teamLab, 2021, Interactive Installation
Have you ever been to one of those immersive art experiences…that’s also a sauna? Neither have we. In fact, before 2021, there were very few people who had ever heard of such a thing. But it really does exist. In a partnership with TikTok, international art collective teamLab is back with another stunning immersive exhibition—but this time with an innovative twist. Open until August 31 in Tokyo, TikTok teamLab Reconnect is a completely new kind of sauna and art experience that will allow viewers to “experience art in their finest mental state.”
“[This] is not an ordinary art exhibition, nor is it a standard sauna,” teamLab explains in a statement. “It is a new practice where a visitor’s mental state itself is altered and enhanced by entering a sauna prior to viewing art, challenging the conventional notions behind art experiences. By repeating the cycle of sauna, cold shower, and rest, a visitor enters a unique ‘sauna trance’ state, in which the senses sharpen, the mind clears, the beauty of the surrounding world comes into focus, and what normally goes unnoticed can be experienced. TeamLab utilizes this finest mental state to immerse visitors in ‘supernature’ art through their ever-expanding physical sensations, allowing them to reconnect to the continuity of the world and time.”
This concept of viewing art while in a sauna may sound novel, but it is actually based in ancient Japanese traditions. Now merging this traditional pastime with the digital and immersive art space, teamLab offers a way of experiencing art that is truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. After going through the saunas—each suffused with colorful lighting and calming scents—and the cold bathing area, visitors are then invited to rest in one of five immersive installations. They are encouraged to repeat the cycle each time before viewing a new piece of art.
Several of teamLab’s signature boundary-defying pieces will be on display, including some from their newest project, Supernature Phenomena. Some of the featured pieces include Levitation, Ephemeral Solidified Light, Proliferating Immense Life in the Rain, and Step into the Light Circle. In collaboration with TikTok, they also created an augmented reality piece on the app that people can experience from anywhere, called Every Life Survives in Fluctuating Space.
With installations featuring objects ranging from levitating orbs—pulsating with energy and color—to floating crystals of solidified light, nothing about TikTtok teamLab Reconnect is at all conventional. To learn more about this otherworldly sauna and art experience, visit teamLab’s website.
International art collective teamLab's latest exhibition is a never-before-seen art and sauna experience, featuring some of the group's signature immersive installations.
Ephemeral Solidified Light; teamLab, 2021, Interactive Installation
Array and Spiral of Resonating Lamps – One Stroke, Metropolis Tokyo; teamLab, 2021, Interactive Installation
Proliferating Immense Life in the Rain – A Whole Year per Year; teamLab, 2020, Interactive Digital Installation
Step into the Light Circle; teamLab, 2021, Interactive Digital Installation
Visitors must first pass through colorful sauna rooms followed by a cold bathing area—which causes a “sauna trance” and allows them to experience the art in a heightened mental state.
Burning Magenta Sauna Room
Silent Yellow Sauna Room
Water Harp Cyan Sauna Room
One of the pieces on display is called Ephemeral Solidified Light, from teamLab's latest project Supernature Phenomena.
Another new piece is called Proliferating Immense Life in the Rain.
On display in the cold bathing area is this piece, Step into the Light Circle.
This mesmerizing piece, called Levitation, is also a part of the exhibition.
In partnership with TikTok, teamLab even created an augmented reality piece called Every Life Survives in Fluctuating Space that can be experienced from anywhere.
