SINGAPORE, March 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Come March 12th, visitors can embark on an interactive journey of exploration and play at Future World - ArtScience Museum's new permanent exhibition, where 15 digital art installations come to life through cutting-edge science and technology.

FUTURE WORLD: Where Art Meets Science is co-curated with teamLab, a globally renowned Japanese group of ultra-technologists and multi-award winning art collective. Together with ArtScience Museum, the art collective has built Singapore's largest digital playground spanning 1,500 square meters, which is approximately a quarter of the museum's total gallery space. The immersive and interactive exhibition allows audiences to become an intrinsic part of the artworks on display, as the installations dynamically evolve through their presence and participation.

"We are thrilled to launch Future World, ArtScience Museum's new permanent exhibition to mark our fifth anniversary. At ArtScience Museum, we explore the intersection between art, science, technology and culture. Our exhibitions and programmes show that it is the interplay between these areas that creates innovation and new ideas. We believe that where art and science meet, the future is made. So, we are naturally drawn to teamLab's extraordinary work. Their fluid combination of artistic expression, technological ingenuity, scientific enquiry and their insistence that, 'we are the future' makes them ideal partners for ArtScience Museum," said Ms. Honor Harger, Executive Director of ArtScience Museum.

"Together, we have created a digital world that consists of major art installations and interactive projects for visitors of all ages, set in an ever-changing, always-evolving environment which puts visitors at the heart of the artworks. Future World is an invitation to have fun, to play and explore, but also to reflect on our own position relative to the natural world, other people and the universe. We hope to evoke in visitors a new and imaginative sense of wonder in the world around us," added Ms. Honor Harger.

"We are fortunate to have this opportunity to work with the magnificent people at ArtScience Museum to create Future World. For this unique exhibition, we have selected 15 artworks that best showcase art, science and education. We intend to continually refresh the exhibition as science and technology evolve. In doing so, we hope to encourage visitors to keep coming back to the exhibition and co-create with other visitors in the space," said Mr. Toshiyuki Inoko, founder of teamLab. FUTURE WORLD: Where Art Meets Science is also teamLab's first and largest permanent Artwork exhibition outside of Japan.

"We are proud to be one of the key partners to bring this immersive art playground to life. Traditionally, artists express their creativity through the use of materials such as paint, glass, wood or metal to create their art pieces. The presentation is usually static with limited audience interaction. Now, technology has opened new opportunities for artists to stretch their imagination. Panasonic's technological advancements have brought it closer to the arts over the years," said Fujiwara Tetsuya, Managing Director of Panasonic System Solutions Asia Pacific.

Featuring 15 digital installations specially selected and put together from teamLab's extensive collection of works, Future World take visitors on a journey of discovery through four key narratives -- Nature, Town, Park and Space.

(i) Nature

The adventure begins with an enchanting stroll through an interactive world of flora and fauna comprised entirely of digital technology, recreating the experience of being connected to nature. As visitors move through these galleries, they are invited to reflect on the intricate relationship they share with their environment.

Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together -- A Whole Year per Year
Ever Blossoming Life II -- A Whole Year per Year, Dark
Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders

Three recent artworks of teamLab are presented in one gallery, bringing visitors into a beautiful ecosystem of digital flowers and butterflies. The artwork is both generative – the plants and butterflies are created algorithmically, and reactive – they respond to our presence and subtly change based on our behaviour. The work is instantly evocative of a natural environment as it replicates the cycle of life, death and rebirth in real time. The flowers gently blooms in tune with the four seasons of the year, and thus this installation can be said to be one of the few places in Singapore where visitors can experience the four seasons.

100 Years Sea Animation Diorama

This larger-than-life installation gives a glimpse into the future, as it illustrates the rising sea levels wrought by climate change, based on scientific data derived from the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). The prediction of the world's rising sea levels over a century is condensed into a ten-minute time frame. As the borders between the screen and the viewer dissolve, it creates the illusion of the viewer eventually being swallowed by the rising sea, encouraging visitors to reflect on the long-term environmental effects of climate change.

(ii) Town

The journey continues as visitors playfully glide via a slide into 'Town' -- a bustling and lively cityscape where visitor-generated input builds up and populates virtual towns. Adults and children alike will have a chance to try their hands at urban planning and building architectural elements through fun and innovative ways.

Sketch Town
Sketch Town Paper Craft

This highlight artwork depicts a fictitious town based on Singapore, including recognisable landmarks such as Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum, the Merlion, and the Singapore Flyer. It is the first time the installation has been adapted to feature the city in which it is displayed.

Kids can let their imagination run wild, as they colour in and draw objects such as cars, buildings, and spaceships. These two-dimensional pictures become animated and move around as they enter a large projected screen. The artwork grows and evolves constantly as different images are added. The objects in town move at different speeds and in different directions, as the audience touch them, bringing the town to life.

Connected to Sketch Town is Sketch Town Paper Craft, a special installation that enables visitors to turn their drawings into paper craft patterns, which can then be assembled into original three-dimensional paper craft models. This is where the visitor's experience materializes into a physical souvenir to take home with them.

Connecting! Train Block

In this interactive artwork, children work and play together to design their own transportation network. Wooden blocks, distinguished by shape and color, are used to design roads, railways and rivers. Cars, airplanes, boats and helicopters can also be added to bring life to the infrastructure. As more blocks are placed on the surface, the table becomes busier, ultimately developing a cityscape.

Media Block Chair

Consisting of fiberglass light cube chairs, these cubes can be seen as the building blocks of 'Town'. Adults and children alike are invited to construct high-tech furniture, like chairs and benches, or architectural structures such as walls and partitions. Each block communicates information to each other when they are connected, changing colour in the process. The installation encourages visitors to be both innovative and practical in the process of creation.

A Table Where Little People Live

The little people are a community of miniature characters who live inside circular tables. When visitor place their hands, or an object, on the table, the little people jump onto it. The actions of the little people change in response to the shape and colour of the objects which they interact with. The more they are interacted with, the more the little people become animated and playful.

(iii) Park

The third chapter of this exhibition invites visitors to play and have fun, and to appreciate 'play' as an integral and essential part of human life. Here, children and their families are encouraged to learn and play together using a combination of physical and digital technology.

Universe of Water Particles

As the visitors move away from the busy urban life of 'Town', they will be reconnected with nature through the spectacular center-piece of the exhibition, Universe of Water Particles. An eight-metre tall waterfall created in a virtual space with thousands of water particles cascades down the façade of the wall. The installation replicates the magnificence of an actual waterfall, inviting visitors to be immersed in a moment of magic as they encounter the grandeur of nature. The water particles are digitally programmed and generated to produce an accurate water fall simulation flowing in accordance to the law of physics, producing an uncannily real waterfall that appears to be alive.

Create! Hopscotch for Geniuses

This unique installation lets visitors design their own customised hopscotch game by arranging circles, triangles and squares on an electronic tablet, which are then projected onto the floor. When participants expertly land on the same shapes in succession, they trigger off beautiful colors and sounds. Special connections exist between the shapes, which are discovered through practice. It is a game of discovery that tests the skills and imagination for all ages.

Light Ball Orchestra

As the central work of 'Park', these light balls form an electrifying orchestra of sound and color. Touching one of the large balls changes the color and sound of the balls around it, creating a ripple-like effect. Movements from other areas send ripples in different directions, creating dynamic and playful interactions throughout the space. Participants of all ages playfully collaborate by pushing, bouncing and rolling the balls, continuously changing the composition, color and sound of the space.

Sketch Aquarium

A favourite among children of all ages, this installation features a digitally rendered aquatic world where the two-dimensional sea creatures that visitors draw on paper come to life in a virtual ocean. The artwork grows and evolves constantly with the different images that the visitors add. Visitors can feed the fish and sea creatures by touching specific images of fish food bags on the screen. In Sketch Aquarium, individual creative processes become part of a unified, shared experience.

Story of the Time when Gods were Everywhere

In this digitally projected world, visitors of all ages can create their own environment by touching Chinese and Japanese characters, which then transform into natural elements such as wind, rain, trees and mountains. When visitors touch the characters, the story begins and the movement of their bodies further changes and evolves the world. Just as in nature where no two moments are repeated, the visitor experiences a new story each time he encounters the artwork.

(iv) Space

Beyond nature, city life and recreational sport, the journey through the exhibition ends by embarking outward and upward into astronomical space, taking visitors to the heart of the universe.

Crystal Universe

This monumental, immersive and interactive artwork enables visitors to experience astrophysical phenomena such as planets, stars, galaxies, and even the very recently detected gravitational waves, which Einstein predicted would exist a century ago. This stunning artwork utilizes teamLab's Interactive 4-D Vision technology, which allows users to control over 170,000 LED lights which together give the illusion of stars moving in space. Thus, visitors experience the Universe from within it, as surrounds them, and enfolds them, and responds to their presence, thus helping visitors understand themselves as part of the vastness of celestial space.

To celebrate the opening of Future World, the museum has also put together an interesting line-up of special activities for visitors:

Conversations: Seeing the Light

Sat 12 Mar, 2pm - 4.30pm

The debut programme to open ArtScience Museum's permanent exhibition, Conversations: Seeing the Light seeks to investigate the intersection between art, science, technology and creativity, in dialogue with a new generation of ultra-technologists and digital creatives, and how these initiatives manifest for Singapore. Held in conjunction with i Light Marina Bay 2016, join in the conversation with i Light Marina Bay's co-curator - Randy Chan, architectural lighting designer and director of Nipek - Shigeki Fujii, owner of Ikkan Art International - Ikkan Sanada and founder of teamLab - Toshiyuki Inoko, who is making an exclusive public appearance at the talk.

ArtScience Late: Syndicate Ft. Kiat and Lee Mun Wai

Thu 24 Mar, 8pm

Be enthralled by this special edition of ArtScience Late featuring audiovisual collective, Syndicate, electronic music producer, Kiat and contemporary dance artist, Lee Mun Wai. ArtScience Museum will be taken over by sonic-scapes of live electronica beats and be transformed into a digital playground for site-specific dance and movements.

Spotlight Gallery Talks and Workshops

Discover the ideas and themes in Future World through a creative workshop, as well as a series of lively spotlight talks happening at various exhibition zones.

Tickets for Future World are available at all Marina Bay Sands box offices and on the website. Terms and conditions apply.

For more information, please visit www.marinabaysands.com/artsciencemuseum.

About Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd

Marina Bay Sands is the leading business, leisure and entertainment destination in Asia. It features large and flexible convention and exhibition facilities, 2,560 hotel rooms and suites, the rooftop Sands SkyPark, the best shopping mall in Asia, world-class celebrity chef restaurants and an outdoor event plaza. Its two theatres showcase a range of leading entertainment performances including world-renowned Broadway shows. Completing the line-up of attractions is ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands, which plays host to permanent and marquee exhibitions. For more information, please visit www.marinabaysands.com

About ArtScience Museum

ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is Southeast Asia's leading cultural institution that explores the inter-relationship between art, science, technology and culture. Featuring 21 galleries totaling 50,000 square feet, the iconic lotus-inspired building has staged major exhibitions by some of the 20th century's key artists, including Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol and Vincent Van Gogh, as well as major exhibitions which explore aspects of scientific history.

About teamLab

Formed in 2001 in Tokyo, teamLab is a collective and interdisciplinary creative group that brings together professionals from various fields of practice in the digital society: artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects, web and print graphic designers and editors. Referring to themselves as "Ultra-technologists," their aim is to achieve a balance between art, science, technology and creativity.

teamLab: http://www.team-lab.net/en

Instagram: https://instagram.com/teamlab_news/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEAMLAB.inc

About Panasonic System Solutions Asia Pacific

Based in Singapore, Panasonic System Solutions Asia Pacific is the B2B solutions division of Panasonic Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, the South East Asia and Pacific (APAC) subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. Panasonic System

Solutions Asia Pacific delivers B2B solutions for government and commercial enterprises of all sizes that cover unified business communications, mobile computing, data storage, security and surveillance, retail point-of-sale, visual communications (projectors, professional displays, digital signage) and imaging network solutions (broadcast and professional video). For more information: http://panasonicapac.mynewsdesk.com/

 

SOURCE: Marina Bay Sands