Future World: Where art meets science
Future World is a highly immersive and interactive digital installation (or playground) that is situated at ArtScience Museum permanently. It is a collaboration with teamLab, which consists of 4 key narratives – City in A Garden, Sanctuary, Park, and Space.
If I were to put myself in a child’s shoes, I think I would have enjoyed Sketch Aquarium and Sketch Town the most. I definitely enjoyed all of the installations but the one which appealed visually the most to me would be the last installation, Crystal Universe.
Sketch Aquarium – This installation features a digitally rendered, aquatic world of underwater animals. Participants of all ages use their imaginations to create fantastic and colourful sea creatures on paper. They are then digitally scanned and brought to life to swim freely in the aquarium where they live.
Sketch Town – This installation is a depiction of a fictitious town, based on Singapore that includes recognisable landmarks, such as, ArtScience Museum, the Merlion and the Singapore Flyer. Participants can use crayons and paper to draw a building, a car, or a plane for Sketch Town.
The flow of interaction:
1. The participant (P) views the Aquarium/Town when they first enter the space
2. P proceeds to the activity table to create their own sea creatures/vehicles by colouring within the outlines of different templates
3. P proceeds to scan their creations to populate the town/aquarium
4. P views the projected Aquarium/Town on the wall with their creations!
5. P can interact with the objects of the Aquarium/Town, i.e. touch the car and it will go faster/change direction, and touch the fishes it will swim away. (In the aquarium if the P touches the food bag the fishes will swim towards it.
Crystal Universe – This stunning artwork is created with teamLab’s Interactive 4D Vision technology and over 170,000 LED lights, giving the illusion of stars moving in space. Participants can change the fabric of the universe by ‘swiping’ astrological phenomenon from smart devices within the installation/their phones and watch it become part of the dazzling environment around them. They can encounter astrophysical phenomena such as planets, galaxies, and even gravitational waves.
Thoughts
In most museum exhibits, viewers are not allowed to be in close proximity to the artwork, let alone touch it. In Future World, participants are instead encouraged and expected to touch and interact with the installations, completing the cycle of the artwork.
In Sketch Aquarium and Town, participants create and contribute to the installations. As an adult, I think it is fun as I get to see my creations on the big projection, contributing to the virtual aquarium. If I were a child, I would expect myself to be excited as I see my creations come to life. A child can imagine a rainbow shark and the most they can do to see it in real life is to draw it on a piece of paper and colour it. The Sketch Aquarium is an upgrade from their normal sketches as it makes the self-created sea creatures move in the virtual aquarium. By utilising art materials and augmented reality technology, it helps to develop the child’s creative thinking and encourages active participation of the child which enhances the learning experience.
The crystal universe is a really beautiful and immersive installation. To me, it is more than being an Instagram worthy photo or video to capture, it is a performance. By walking through the pathway, the participant can see the individual lights up close and see how each light changes colour. When they stand at a distance away, they are able to view the artwork in a bigger picture and appreciate the performance.
Even though the exhibition is more catered to kids, I still enjoyed myself as I interacted with the artworks and seeing a visual response almost immediately. I believe that the installations were a two-way artwork that engages the audience to participate/contribute to the artwork itself. This exhibition is a good example of utilising technology to show art in an interactive way that is worth visiting again.
References
https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/future-world/park.html
https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/future-world/city-in-a-garden.html
https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/nurturing-creativity-and-imagination-for-child-development
