teamLab Planets in Tokyo has opened its expansion, which includes several new interactive spaces for digital art, as well as F&B and retail.
Debuting on 22 January 2025, the expansion increases teamLab Planets‘ area by 1.5 times and introduces exhibits including ‘Athletics Forest’, ‘Catching and Collecting Forest’, and ‘Future Park’. These feature more than 20 artworks.
Catching and Collecting Extinct Forest is an area where visitors can capture and study extinct animals using their smartphones.
“Physically exploring with others, discovering and catching something, then taking the chance to broaden interests based on what was caught,” said teamLab founder Toshiyuki Inoko.
“This is what we have been doing naturally over the long course of human history. For humanity, the acts of catching and gathering are fun, educational, and part of life.”
Athletics Forest is described as a physically challenging four-dimensional world where time changes with the presence of visitors’ bodies.
“It is a space where people can perceive art with their physical bodies,” said Inoko.
“We started this project, Athletics Forest, with the hopes to enhance three-dimensional and higher-dimensional thinking,” he added.
Interactive experiences at teamLab
Another highlight in the teamLab expansion is ‘Future Park’, an amusement park where guests can co-create an endlessly evolving artwork.
‘Black Emptiness Table’ is a new artwork-filled space where visitors can enjoy vegan ramen.
More new additions include the ‘Orchid Glass House’, where guests can drink tea surrounded by orchids, the ‘Living Art Store’, where guests can take home regrown orchids, and ‘Sketch Factory’, a space where guests’ drawings are turned into original products to take home.
Last year, teamLab Planets set the Guinness World Record for the world’s most visited museum dedicated to a single group or artist.
Images courtesy of teamLab
