Immerse yourself in the most amazing and sensory arts happening in the world.

This article is part of FT Globetrotter. tokyo guide

When queuing to enter one of Tokyo’s modern art museums, we are warned: in some areas the water is knee-deep. And on some floors mirror materials are used. I feel relieved to be wearing a modest pair of shorts.

We’re at teamLab Planets, an interactive exhibit where visitors wander through large “body-immersive” screens, multi-sensory experiences that include walking on water and crouching in a mirrored garden among thousands of real, moving flowers. It attracts millions of visitors each year and has become very popular what is now My dear that 1 in 10 travelers to Japan will go.

“Tokyo is the city of tomorrow,” says the local I’m with, citing the metropolitan government’s vision of the future. “And this is a good representation of that.”

Planets is the brainchild of Tokyo-founded art collective teamLab, an innovative group of artists, programmers, engineers, animators, architects and others, who together explore the confluence of art, science, technology and the natural world with their work. .

“Enter barefoot, immerse your body with others in the art spaces and become one with the world,” says a sign as we walk in, take off our shoes and socks and put them in the lockers. I’m not sure what exactly is being asked of us, but I’m willing to go with the flow.

In almost complete darkness, we walk single file up a small slope towards the first exhibit, while the warm water, gushing from above like a waterfall, rushes past our feet. (An accessible detour is available.)

After drying ourselves with a towel, we go out to the first room, while ethereal and astral instrumental music resonates around us and smiles explode on our faces. Called the Infinite Crystal Universe, it’s an absolutely dazzling, pointillism-inspired labyrinth of strings of LED lights hanging together in a large mirrored space: they sparkle, pulse, and change color. I can’t help but take out my phone to film the “stars” around me, which is also part of the fun: teamLab has programmed its jobs to respond in real time to specific movements, including the use of smartphones, by the people in each space. Visitors can influence what they see.

“We are very interested in how to bring people closer to our creativity,” says teamLab member Takashi Kudo, who explains the technology behind the Infinite Crystal Universe. “Comparing it to a physical material like oil paint or spray paint. . . everyone can draw within this space,” he continues. “What we did is painting, but they are applications. “It’s software.”

Since teamLab Planets opened its doors in 2018, it has become a social media sensation: millions of videos of its share-worthy artwork have been uploaded to platforms like TikTok and Instagram, even by famous visitors (with gigantic followers ) like Kim Kardashian, Dua Lipa. , Lewis Hamilton, David and Victoria Beckham and K-pop royalty BTS and Black Pink. the DJ Diplo even played a live set. on teamLab Planets for YouTube in March.

“On a business level, from a promotional point of view, [social media] It is very important,” says Kudo. TeamLab does not engage in traditional marketing. Speaking more generally, he says: “We try to create something that we think is beautiful. . . and if someone wanted to memorize that moment or share that moment,” he continues, “that is in the territory of creativity and we believe that creativity is very important.”

While other visitors pull up their pants, we immerse ourselves in knee-deep water, where projected images of koi swim around our legs along the surface, reacting to our movements. Dizzy from jet lag, I wonder if this is what psychedelics are like, while a nearby group of laughing children try to catch fish with their hands like little brown bears. Koi burst into flowers when touched and scatter: the rapid response of a complex algorithm in a part-real, part-virtual space that is thrillingly interactive.

In the corridors between the screens, the texture and temperature change underfoot, with the aim of stimulating the senses: sometimes we wander through water, other times we walk on soft, spongy floors.

In the end, we get down on our knees and crawl towards one of the last exhibits, which is perhaps the most fascinating: the Floating Flower Garden, where more than 13,000 orchids float around us in an entirely mirrored room as if they are being embraced by a Monet. It is a version of a Japanese Zen garden, created for Buddhist priests to learn to be one with nature and is inspired by a parable in their theological training. “When someone looks at a flower up close, the flower looks back,” explains teamLab. Orchids were chosen specifically for this work because they can survive without soil by absorbing water from the air, and here they are, living, growing and blooming around us.

Although Tokyo is the collective’s headquarters, it also has a second museum, Without Bordersin the city’s Azabudai Hills – teamLab experiences have sprung up around the world, from Beijing to Miami. A Borderless site is expected to open in Jeddah this year, as well as museums in Abu Dhabi and Kyoto, and from May 10 there will be an exhibition at the rhythm gallery In New York. Next year she will travel to Hamburg and Utrecht.

As we leave, reels full of photos and videos, my inner cynic can’t help but pierce my millennial sensibility with the feeling that, in part, this is art for the Instagram generation: an experience that has been created and curated to be shared on social networks. But does that matter? TeamLab’s work is a delight, a mind-bending and fascinating combination of visual and sensational installation art, and a fascinating example of how technology can be used to influence our real-world experiences. It is the art of tomorrow.

teamLab Planets TokyoToyosu 6-1-16, Koto-ku, Tokyo. Addresses

Niki Blasina was a guest of Four Seasons Tokyo. Adult tickets for teamLab Planets cost ¥3,800 ($24/£20) on weekdays and ¥4,200 ($27/£22) on weekends and holidays.

Have you experienced a teamLab exhibition? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter