Inside Asian Gaming

FEB 2019 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 45 t eamLab has been creating digital artwork since its establishment in 2001. While simultaneously running a mainstream art business selling the artwork they create to collectors through galleries, they also have many space works that are difficult to “own”, so they have been developing art museum exhibits and performance-type pieces using the world as their stage. A recent success includes a permanent exhibit in Singapore and they have also produced large scale exhibitions in the United States. While busy with their international art activities, teamLab found itself wanting to set up “some sort of big, permanent exhibit in Tokyo”. The result was the “Mori Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: EPSON teamLab Borderless”. teamLab Borderless is making waves as a brand new “Tokyo magnetic field” that is attracting people from all over the world. This is a world where you can wander, explore and make new discoveries, without a single border. “At first we were fumbling around with no idea about the size of the space we wanted, or even what experience we were going to provide,” explains Akitae Matsumoto, representative of teamLab Kids and part of the project team that created the one-of-a-kind museum. “We didn’t have any experience creating pieces for a massive 10,000 square-meter location and it was also our first time even trying to tie together a variety of individual works into a borderless form. Until this project, an individual piece of art has always been exhibited in its own space, but teamLab Borderless is created based on the concept of presenting all work, even new ones, together without borders, launching a single, comprehensive experience throughout the entire building.” The concept looms as an intriguing one for Japan’s future IR operators who have already stated their desire to incorporate unique Japanese cultural and artistic elements into their IR designs. Likewise, IRs present a potential opportunity for teamLab to further explore such expansive spaces. “If we’re going to call for tourists to visit Tokyo, Japan, we need these kinds of appealing places.” – Taichi Tsuchihashi