Believe that art-loving travelers who are keen on checking in will include “teamLab” in their itinerary! The permanent exhibition hall “teamLab Forest” in Fukuoka, Japan, will officially open on the 21st of this month, and teamLab’s another light and shadow exhibition with a forest theme, “A Forest Where Gods Live,” will also be held from this summer to autumn at the Omura Mountain Park in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan! The most unique aspect is that it allows you to experience different light and shadow art in nature!
This year marks the 6th year that teamLab has held the Dreamlike Light Exhibition at the Omura Mountain Park in Saga Prefecture, and the theme “A Forest Where Gods Live” echoes the natural beauty of Omura Mountain itself. “Omura Mountain” is a symbol of Takeo City in Saga Prefecture, and the Omura Mountain Park, designated as a National Registered Monument in Japan, is a pond and spring-style garden located on the west side of Omura Mountain. Covering an area of about 500,000 square meters, the Omura Mountain Park was built in the late Edo period in 1845 by the local lord Shigeyoshi Nabeshima, with lush flowers and trees throughout the garden, combined with beautiful lake views, offering different beauty throughout the four seasons, attracting many visitors every year to enjoy the flowers or admire the autumn leaves.
Located on the edge of Mt. Yufune Park is the 3,000-year-old Takeo Shrine Oonoki tree, and in the center of the park stand many trees that are already 300 years old. Due to the unclear boundary between the park and the wild forest, when visitors stroll through the park, they will unknowingly step into the natural forest. Sensing the blurred boundary between the artificial amusement park and the natural forest, the teamLab team hopes to express the inseparable relationship between humans and nature and the interaction between the two. Taking the unique landscape of the park as elements, such as the giant stone caves formed over the years, magnificent mountain forest landscapes, etc., “A Forest Where Gods Live” presents 22 light and shadow works, using digital technology to transform nature into a vast artistic space, allowing visitors to feel the beauty of nature and the continuity of life.
teamLab uses light and shadow art to project the continuous blooming and falling process of flowers on moss-covered giant rocks. The flowers repeatedly bloom and wither, yet continue to propagate and thrive, while the giant rocks have been formed through long years. The work “Ever Blossoming Life Rock” depicts the form of life from the contrast between the two, prompting reflection.
As the boat moves, “Drawing On The Water Surface” this light and shadow art will constantly change due to the ripples of the pool water. The school of fish projected on the pool swims back and forth. When the boat is still, the school of fish will gather near it; when the boat is sailing, the school of fish will move away from it.
“Universe of Water Particles on a Sacred Rock” simulates the flow of water, projecting a flattened waterfall on the rock, creating a fantastical and magnificent feeling.
When tourists pass by the trees, the artwork “Resonating Forest – Cherry Blossoms and Maple” will project colors onto the trees, creating unique sounds. The light emitted from the tree will radiate to surrounding trees, causing them to produce the same sounds. The changes in light and color, like the breath of a forest, showcase vitality.
In addition to outdoor light and shadow works, “A Forest Where Gods Live” also brings indoor art installations, such as “Forest and Spiral of Resonating Lamps in the Forest”, which creates different layers through the changes in the intensity of light, combined with the colors of mugwort, orange jasmine, bitter orange, arrowhead, and mayflower. When visitors stand still near the lamp, the closest lamp will emit light and sound, which will then spread to the nearby lamps, and finally return to the starting point of the lit lamp, the constantly extending light and sound are like echoing each other.
teamLab filled the old bathhouse in the Momoyama Park with water, creating the indoor work “Graffiti Nature – Living in the Ruins of a Bathhouse.” Visitors can draw various creatures, constructing an ecosystem in the abandoned public bathhouse, and these creatures will “appear” in the space, allowing people to search for their mysterious traces. Just looking at this colorful and fantastical scene makes you want to come and check it out immediately!
Image Source: teamLab.art
