Body of Waves, a New Artwork Only at teamLab Planets TOKYO, Unveiled

The visitor experiences offered by “Existence in the Flow Creates Vortices” and “Waterfall of Ephemeral Crystals” have also been further expanded.

TOKYO — teamLab Planets TOKYO (hereinafter referred to as “teamLab Planets”) has unveiled Body of Waves, a new artwork in which visitors enter a soft sculpture with their entire bodies.

In addition, Existence in the Flow Creates Vortices—where vortices are created behind people as they climb against the flow—and Waterfall of Ephemeral Crystals—where shining particles cascade down to create a waterfall of light particles—have also evolved, further expanding the experience at teamLab Planets.

As you walk, your feet sink.
This force is transmitted to the large, soft and flexible sculpture spreading across the floor, causing the sculpture to physically deform.

The force generated by your body slowly ripples through the whole sculpture. Likewise, the force generated by another person’s body deforms the sculpture, and that force is transmitted to you. Sharing the same sculpture, people influence one another through their presence and the forces they exert.

Countless lights continuously flow down from high to low following the ever-changing shape of the sculpture.

The sculpture here is not an object to be observed from the outside.
The physical properties of the sculpture itself become a medium that connects the bodies of people.

This sculpture generates its shape from the relationships between people’s bodies, continuously transforming them.
Your own body and the bodies of others are connected within a single, continuous space through the chain of forces transmitted through the sculpture.

Vortices are created behind people as they climb against the flow.

Although a vortex is steady, it is constantly moving and swelling like a powerful life-form.
Despite the existence of the vortex being maintained, the water particles that form it change from moment to moment. The vortex that is being seen now is created by completely different water from the same vortex seen a few minutes ago. The vortex, unlike a rock, cannot maintain a stable structure on its own; rather, it is created and sustained by the energy of water that continuously flows inwards and outwards.
A vortex looks like a life-form because life similarly consumes external energy and matter and discharges it, sustaining its ordered structure within that flow. Life is a miraculous vortex that emerges from a flow of energy in a continuous world.

Water is depicted as a continuum of countless water particles, and the interactions between the particles are calculated to create a three-dimensional simulation of their movement. The vortices create lines from the trails of these particles. The collection of three-dimensional lines are then cut out using what teamLab calls Ultrasubjective Space. In contrast to space that is created through, or cut out by, lenses and perspective, Ultrasubjective Space does not fix the viewer’s viewpoint and in turn frees their body. The floor and walls that the vortices are seen on do not become a boundary between the viewer and the artwork, and the artwork space becomes continuous with the space in which the viewer’s body exists.

This artwork is based on an earlier work on a natural waterfall in the mountains of Shikoku, Waterfall of Light Particles – Deep in the Mountains of Shikoku (2016-2017).

Light only reflects off the particles of water that make up the waterfall. The shining particles cascade down creating a waterfall of light particles. The light of the shining waterfall illuminates the surrounding area.
In the darkness, the shining particles leave a light trail afterimage that appears to draw lines in space. From the combination of these afterimage light traces, the waterfall of light is born.

With Your Entire Body, Immerse, Perceive, Become One with the Art

teamLab Planets is a museum where you walk through water, created by art collective teamLab.

The artworks change depending on the presence of people, and the existence of the artworks is continuous with your body and with others. Immerse yourself physically in the massive artwork spaces, perceive them with your body, and become one with the art.

Toyosu, Tokyo (

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Opening Hours: Daily 8:00 – 22:00

*Final admission is one hour before closing.

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