The Way of the Sea, Transcending Space - Gold Light, Floating Nest

teamLab, 2018, Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

The Way of the Sea, Transcending Space - Gold Light, Floating Nest

teamLab, 2018, Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

A large nest floats in the center of the space. The work is viewed by lying down or sitting in the Floating Nest.

This work starts when the shoal of fish from The Way of the Sea  passes through the Flower Forest and enters the Floating Nest. The work ends when the fish leaves the space and disappears.

Lie down in the Floating Nest and the lines drawn by the traces of the fish appears to be drawn in three dimensions in the space. The body becomes immersed into the work, and the boundary between people and the work dissolves.

The fish are rendered in light as they fly around the space, leaving trails of light in their paths and creating spatial calligraphy.

“The way of the bird” is a saying in Zen which refers to the fact that unlike a human road the road of the bird is not fixed. Its meaning is freedom and of leaving no trace. Here the birds are replaced with fish.

The movement of thousands of fish and birds is beautiful and mysterious, like a single giant life form. The flock has neither a leader nor mutual consensus, but moves on the simple basis of; if my neighbour moves, then I move too. The biological mechanism that causes flocks of hundreds of fish and birds to move at the same time is enigmatic. It seems there is a universal principle that humans do not understand. Likewise, the coloring of the flock in this work is not predetermined. Influenced by the presence of people, the space becomes a complex and beautiful coloration. This coloration is created by the movement of each fish obeying some kind of primitive rule.

The work is rendered in real time by a computer program, it is neither a prerecorded animation nor imagery on loop.The work as a whole is in constant change; previous states will never be repeated and can never be seen again.