At some point in August (I actually know exactly which day in August, I just don't want to come across as Rain Man) I went to a permanent exhibition that I have wanted to go to since I moved to Tokyo. TeamLAB Borderless in Odaiba, not to be confused with the smaller, wetter TeamLab Planets in Toyosu, is an exhibition based solely on projections and lighting. Being inside of the exhibits places you in surreal, interactive worlds that test your perception of reality. I hesitate to write this article because this is truly one of those things that one should experience for themselves, but at the same time I want people to know that it's worth every yen. As a compromise between my conscience and my desire to share, I've left out some details that you might want to find if you choose to go.
August in Tokyo is disgustingly hot and humid, and the walk from the station to the exhibit was a slog despite the short distance. The day we went was particularly busy, and we waited some time to get our pre-ordered tickets checked. After they checked our e-tickets, we were briefed in the lobby by a multi-lingual video of what to expect and some etiquette to observe inside the area. Staff will politely stop you inside of the exhibit if you break any of the conventions, but if you do visit, it would be nice if you followed them in the first place. Don't be that tourist that tries to be an exception.
Ahem.
Anyway, after the briefing, we were allowed into the darkness of the exhibit. There were three pathways to choose from at the beginning, and we chose one that none of the others seemed to be interested in. We ended up in a room of projected flowers. It was beautiful and interesting to see initially, but it was worth it to stay in the area as birds and fish flowed through the rooms at certain periods.
We moved on towards another area, stopping by a small cave-like room where time and space seemed to be anomalous. People were stopped restricted from going into the centre of the room, but at the entrance of it you could see projections of shapes spinning around, making the viewer feel as if they were travelling through time and space. Ambient music played in a similar vein to the Art Aquarium, but the music they used here was more minimalistic and eerie.
Continuing on, the projections became more monochrome, and the images became representations of traditional Japanese culture. Bipedal frogs and people in attire from feudal era Japan slowly traveled along the walls in slow-motion. Following the train of humanoids, we entered into a room of glass panels in rows. The same figures were projected onto these glass panels, giving the impression that they were manifested in the physical realm in front of us in the dark room.
We moved on from the room and made our way back through the hallway of animated feudal era Japanese imagery, and proceeded to the central part of the exhibit. This was one of the more popular parts of Borderless, and I knew this not from the dozens of people crowding around it, but from the multitude of Instagram photos I've come across before visiting Borderless. The waterfall projection took up the entire room, with a large mound with the images of rocks and water projected into it. I figured it wasn't worth the time to line up for a photo, under the waterfall, but it was still nice to see.
Since this was a central room, it had three exits. One went back into the area of flowers, another was the entrance from the feudal area, and the third led to a more abstract area. This third area is a bit difficult to describe. As of writing this I am of the impression that this area was just an extension of the flower area, as the patterns somewhat remained as a colourful, yet more abstract. We navigated our way through the maze-like area of abstract projections and went to the stairs leading to third main area.
This third area is essentially the kids area. Entry was relatively controlled, with staff stopping groups of people to brief them on some safety advice that I definitely, totally listened to. When they finished communicating to us through verbal instruction and through a flip board with multiple languages written on it, we went up a flight of stairs. There were many children running about in this area, and the layout of the installations here were very much like a playground. There was a balloon room, a slide, and even planks suspended by chains that resembled the bridges on playgrounds in Canada. They were still art pieces at the end of the day, so they had some interactive projections on them, or at least had colours that were appealing to the eye. We didn't spend a lot of time here, so I didn't take a lot of pictures of the place.
On the way out, we stopped by the tea cafe. The menu was small, with only about three choices of tea and two choices of ice cream available. While the two types of tea we ordered were delicious, the drink itself was not the attraction. When the staff clad in brownish lab coats brought out our drinks with a fancy, scientific-looking cart and placed them on the tatami countertop in front of us, a projector generated flowers in the clear glass bowls our tea was in. The flowers grew in the bowls, and when you lifted the bowls to drink, the flowers would wither away and its petals scatter all around. It was truly a dream-like experience.
One of the last things we did was line up for the installation that TeamLAB Borderless was known for: The Forest of Lamps. It was more or less an hour long wait at the time of our visit, with the line snaking out from the installation's entrance, then down a flight of stairs, and finally ending in a hallway near the waterfall room. One of the other visitors in front of us commented out loud to his wife and child after reaching the top of the stairs, "That's it?" We had a bit more waiting to do before entering the installation, and we entertained ourselves by listening to one of the staff instruct the guests to "right side walk" down the stairs. We were amused at how confident he was in his delivery, while simultaneously respecting him for it.
After at least fifty minutes of waiting time, we were let into a smaller room with a multitude of hanging, colour-changing lamps, and we were only allowed a minute and thirty seconds inside the room. I found the room to be more interesting from the outside, but the inside was where the better photos could be taken; the Forest of Lamps was the premier Instagram backdrop of Borderless, and it was easy to see why. The walls and floor were all of glass, so it made it seem as if the lamps extended into infinity. Even with the other guests inside, the mirrors made it feel as though you were off on your own.
The lamp room was one of the last things we saw on our visit, but there were other rooms there that were worth seeing. I thought about writing about those rooms, but as I mentioned earlier in this post, I've chosen to leave them a mystery. I've also refrained from adding and videos to this post for that same reason. After all, part of the magic of this place is how you explore it.
If you, dear reader, ever choose to visit (or re-visit), I recommend you take your time and try to interact with everything. Some of the rooms are hidden behind curtains that blend perfectly with the walls, and some halls are obscured by darkness. If you aren't supposed to be somewhere, the staff will probably stop you or you'll see some sort of sign. You might also want to stick around some of the rooms and hallways for a little bit. There are some animations and interactive images that appear if you wait long enough in some areas.
Anyway, as always, thanks for reading!
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