teamLab 城跡の光の祭

For our anniversary, Kohei and I went to Fukuoka Castle, where teamLab, an artist collective group who aim to explore relationships between humans and nature through art, have created “Light Festival in Fukuoka Castle ruins”.

There were various different exhibition areas within the castle ruins, and the trail took you through them all. We spent around an hour walking through the exhibit, and considering it was the weekend prior to the exhibition ending and there were a lot of people, I never felt like I was being rushed through.

Animals of Flowers: Symbiotic Lives in the Stone Wall

One of the most impressive installations projected onto the castle walls. Animals created from petals walked along the walls, which provided the perfect backdrop for such large animals. The flowers began to bud, bloom, and scatter and fade away in a continuous cycle. When people moved closer to the animals, the flowers would scatter instantly and the animals would disappear.

 

Resisting and Resonating Ovoids and Trees

This was designed to give people a heightened sense of awareness of the presence of others sharing the same space. Pushing the ovoids caused the colour it emitted to change, and a sound associated with that colour echoed across Maizuru Park. The changing light from that ovoid resonated out towards other ovoids in the nearby area. 

The trees on the other hand, changed colour slowly, as if they were breathing, creating a magical effect of spontaneous colour waves. You could truly appreciate the beauty looking down from above the castle walls.

Spatial Calligraphy in the Stone Wall 

Designed to offer a contemporary interpretation of traditional Japanese calligraphy, the projections show the depth, speed and power of each brush strokes just like you’d see on paper, but in a much more dramatic way. This area was a huge contrast to the other areas of the exhibition, with less colour and more focus on tradition. Despite this, Fukuoka castle managed to be the perfect backdrop for the fusion of new and old.

  

The thing I enjoyed most about this exhibit was its interactive nature, and visitors were encouraged to touch the ovoids in the park, despite the odd few looking a bit deflated after a hard day. They have a new exhibit in Tokushima in a few weeks which I’d definitely go to if I didn’t already have plans, but I’m keeping an eye out for their next event. If you’re interested in going, keep an eye out too; they currently have other events in Tokyo, Singapore, Melbourne and Paris.