If there's anywhere in the metropolis where you'll feel unbounded by space, it's at the teamLab's signature venue: Planets. Even time seems to warp in this otherworld where art and technology intersect.
The prolific teamLab collective of artists, programmers, engineers, animators, mathematicians, and architects showcases its talents at short-term exhibitions and any number of permanent and long-run venues across Japan and abroad. In Tokyo, the teamLab Planets in the Toyosu district, is a tour de force of experiential art, delivered in teamLab's signature way that draws upon people's naturally inquisitive, creative nature.
Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers
teamLab, 2016-2018, Interactive Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
One of teamLab's key premises-that learning is not only more fun, but also more effective when using one's whole body-comes to the fore at Planets, where the exhibits are still more sensually immersive.
From beginning to end, you move through the spaces barefoot, experiencing different textures of terrain and even wading through water at times. The deep matte black of the walls, floor, and ceiling here make the projected artworks really pop. As at Borderless, there are crystal infinity rooms and massive illuminated spheres that shift colors as you squeeze around them, but the feeling of being dissolved into these experiences is much more pronounced. It all ends more quickly, too-it's possible to complete your tour of Planets in less than an hour. What you will have seen and felt, though, is so rich you'll likely be surprised at how little time has gone by.
Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People - Infinity
teamLab, 2016-2018, Interactive Digital Installation, Endless, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
Smaller children will need assistance navigating the mushy "Soft Black Hole" and the water-filled installations. In the pool where animated koi dart playfully, the water is knee-deep for adults.
Know Before You Go
The interactive exhibits offer fun for ages four and up, but pace yourself and take advantage of the
break rooms as necessary. Detour routes are available for those who need them. Additionally, due to the
nature of the exhibits-reflective surfaces, water, and so on-please be sure to read the guidelines about
what to wear.
Advance reservations are recommended. Fixed-date, timed-entry tickets are available on each official
website, but please note that advance tickets may sell out once the maximum capacity has been
reached.
(Odaiba's teamLab Borderless closed down at the end of August 2022; it is scheduled to
reopen in 2024 at Azabudai Hills in central Tokyo. Read more here. Toyosu's teamLab Planets remains
open until the end of 2027.)