From afar, it looks like an abstract painting made up of dots, of cherry blossoms and strange terrains that seem to flow and float. It traps your attention, your interest, your curiosity. As you approach, you start to see that the image is not static, that every single dot moves in unison, coordinated with the precision of a Swiss watch, as if it were an animal morphing and coming into life. The nearer you are, the more movement you perceive, the more details. The more fascinated you become.
I saw this piece of digital art recently at The Temple in Beijing. The artwork, of the series “Impermanent Life”, is created by TeamLab, a collective, interdisciplinary group in Japan that brings together artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects, web designers and editors. They go beyond the boundaries between art, science, technology and creativity. They aim to expand art’s potential and create new relationships between art and people. And they really do: I found myself interacting with the artwork, following its perpetual synchronicity, becoming an intrinsic part of the piece, feeling inspired.
