In my previous post, I noted the buzz around Amos Rex, the newly opened art museum. Given the huge lines and the number of getting-settled tasks on my plate, I had resigned myself to missing it, but on its very last day, 45 minutes before ticket sales were ending, I walked by and saw "only" a half-block line and jumped in. I was one of the very last people to get a ticket!
Inside were three large media installations by the Tokyo-based teamLab. Most striking was "Graffiti Nature," a swirl of color from floor to ceiling. Touching the wall reshapes the swirls, launching flowers, waves of color, etc. Most striking to me was a side room where visitors of all ages were calmly coloring. A staff person would scan your picture and then within a minute your creation would join the scene, animated, and literally move across the room. (See my lovely "BF" crocodile picture!)
The place was, of course, very crowded but everyone was excited and, mostly, attentive to each other. Aside from the power of pretty colors, what accounts for the appeal? Here are some quick thoughts: Part of the sense of wonder comes from the images breaking the usual boundaries--moving outside the frame to fill the whole wall and beyond; sound & light adds to the effect, of course; and the whole thing is one big photo-op and Instagrammable moment. Beyond that is the feeling that you yourself can contribute. That your own (humble) artwork can join the visual swirl around you is powerful. I think that adds to the feeling of camarderie in the space. We were connected not just as the lucky ones who had made it inside but by experiencing and shaping this space around us. The exhibit became a shared, public moment in the full sense of that word.
BF: Simply beautiful--and thank you for such vivid descriptions of a culture in which higher expectations and a higher bar for learning yield palpably greater results. Team Suomolainen!