teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will officially open on 18 April in Saadiyat Cultural District.
The purpose-built structure spanning 17,000 square metres, is a collaboration between the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Miral and the Tokyo-based art collective, teamLab.
The installations are a part of teamLab’s ‘Environmental Phenomena’ concept, where the artwork is shaped by elements such as air, water and light. The environment-based exhibitions ensures that the art is ever-evolving, with its existence maintained by the surrounding atmosphere.
Founder of teamLab Toshiyuki Inoko describes these artworks as dependent on their environment, with life being a phenomenon that emerges from an open, continuous world. In a statement to the press Inoko shared “The environment produces the phenomena, and the environment maintains the existence of the structure. Let us call that existence environmental phenomena.”
“Existence will be freed from matter that has previously been responsible for its existence. Elements like air, water, and light that permeate our daily lives are transformed by their environment into unique phenomena that will become the existence. The boundaries of that existence are ambiguous and continuous. Even if people break the artwork apart, the work will remain in existence as long as its environment is maintained. Conversely, if the environment is not maintained, the work will disappear. Perhaps, people’s consciousness will spread from existence itself to the environment. A rock will continue to exist even if it is placed in a sealed box isolated from the outside world, but life cannot maintain its existence if it is placed in such a closed box. Life is also an existence that is maintained by the environment. Life may be a miraculous phenomenon that emerges from a flow in an open and continuous world.”
The space will feature transformative exhibitions such as Massless Suns and Dark Suns, where light and dark spheres interact based on perception and Levitation Void, which introduces an energy void that levitates in the air, continuously repairing itself.
teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will an addition to Saadiyat Cultural District, joining other institutions including Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat and the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
