Future World is a permanent interactive art gallery set at the ArtScience Museum in the Marina Bay Sand. It was created by teamLab, a group of “ultra-technologists” (interdisciplinary artists) based in Tokyo. Their mission is to fuse art, design, science and technology together, to explore the relationship between human and nature.
The Future World exhibition is famous for its child-friendliness and playability, which is shown in the main area named as Future Park. However, despite the liveliness and noisiness of the children in Future Park, the exhibition also features several isolated rooms with quieter and more peaceful interactive artworks. Although I like the idea of the contrast between movement and stillness, noise and silence, the feeling of interactivity in the Future Park was much stronger than the other installations such as Four Seasons and Impermanent Life.
Furthermore, the exhibition is heavily based on LED screens and light effects. I like the fact that the resultant visual (lively, vibrant and colourful scenery, the contrast of light and shadow) is good for photo taking and sharing on social media. However, as I was personally experiencing the artwork, I couldn’t help but feel the fakeness as a result of all the digital devices and pixelated sprites. It reminded me of the depicted “future world” in Blade Runner, where there is no tree or wild animal, and human creates the electronic versions of those animals to display their empathy and social status.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the sketch aquarium very much. I like the idea that people can create a virtual 3d aquarium together with the 2D sketches that show their personalities. In my opinion, it’s an interesting and intriguing social activity to play with.
My favourite was the crystal universe. It shocked me with its other-worldly visual and sound effects. I was like the “stargate” scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Furthermore, the change and rhythm of light formation and movement, accompanied by the music, also create a sense of narrative value.
Overall, although the exhibition was a bit short, it was definitely an interesting and mind-opening experience for me.
-Xu Peisen, 10/10/19