teamLab announces new immersive art museum to open in Kyoto this fall and offers first look at exhibits
The internationally acclaimed art collective teamLab is set to launch a new, permanent immersive art museum in Kyoto this fall.
“teamLab BioVortex Kyoto” is set to open in the city’s Minami Ward in Autumn 2025, and the museum is a pivotal part of Kyoto City’s broader project to revitalize the southeastern Kyoto Station area, establishing a new hub for creativity and cultural dissemination.
Known globally for pushing the boundaries of digital art and interactive experiences, teamLab’s new venture in Kyoto aims to redefine conventional notions of matter and existence.
“teamLab BioVortex Kyoto” promises an experience where visitors physically immerse themselves in artworks that transcend traditional material concepts.
The museum will feature both never-before-seen installations and works previously unexhibited in Japan, emphasizing a concept teamLab calls “High Order Sculpture” – entities that exist not as solid objects, but as orders of energy born from specific environments.
The museum will showcase a wide array of innovative works, challenging perception and interaction – teamLab have revealed a first look at some of the exhibits that visitors can expect to experience:
Massless Amorphous Sculpture
This monumental, floating artwork is described as a vast “sculpture” born from a sea of soap bubbles.
It defies gravity, hovering in space without touching the ground or ceiling. Its contours are fluid, allowing it to break apart into smaller pieces or coalesce into larger forms.
The sculpture maintains its presence even when people physically enter it, and can repair itself if “broken,” though excessive damage can cause it to collapse.
Interestingly, physical force like pushing or fanning wind cannot directly move or disperse it, highlighting its existence as an energetic phenomenon rather than a tangible object.
This work exemplifies “High Order Sculpture,” where existence is sustained by the order of energy within a specially created environment, constantly interacting and changing with that environment.
Massless Sun and Dark Sun
These are “Cognitive Sculptures,” meaning they don’t physically exist but are formed within the viewer’s perception.
Composed of countless spheres of light, they react to human touch, glowing brighter and triggering a chain reaction among nearby spheres.
When observed intently, spheres of darkness, appearing as solidified shadows, also emerge – though these are imperceptible to cameras, further emphasizing their existence only within perception.
These works challenge the very definition of existence, forming not from material but from light, environment, and the dynamic interaction of the human body and consciousness.
Morphing Continuum
This installation explores how disparate elements, even when separated by time and space, can coalesce into a single unified existence through an emergent order.
This “spatiotemporal existence” can drastically change in shape and size, or even replace all its constituent glowing spheres, yet maintain its singular identity.
These presences emerge from and return to the larger whole, forming a “living universe” of spatiotemporal beings.
Like other “High Order Sculptures,” they defy physical manipulation and repair themselves even when “broken” by human interaction.
Traces of Life
The artwork space moves at the same time as people, leaving traces under their feet. The trace becomes a long trail that remains in the artwork world, becoming a large presence.
In this work, without people there would be only space, as nothing would be drawn without their presence.
This ambitious project is a collaborative effort between teamLab and several Kyoto and Osaka-based enterprises.
It aims to develop a multi-functional cultural facility, including teamLab’s art museum and an art center, on city-owned land.
Through this initiative, teamLab seeks to contribute significantly to Kyoto City’s vision of urban development for the southeastern station area, focusing on culture, arts, and fostering a vibrant youth community.
“teamLab BioVortex Kyoto” is poised to become a landmark destination, inviting visitors to ponder the nature of existence and immerse themselves in groundbreaking art forms.
Ticket information and specific location information will be revealed shortly via the official teamLab Kyoto website.
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