The visionaries behind the immersive digital art exhibits are back again with TikTok teamLab Reconnect. Reconnect looks to take the immersion experience one step further by combining a sizzling sauna with a refreshing shower to make visitors as relaxed as possible before viewing the captivating digital art. According to the project’s creators, “the theme was to transform visitors into the greatest state possible and have them become part of the art.”
Join Our Digital Art Sauna Experience
Sweat Out in Unique Sauna Rooms
The sauna room features seven different rooms, including female-only rooms, to use for your own private group. Each sauna has unique features such as varying levels of heat and unique and relaxing smells. The scents add to the relaxation experience and include things such as roasted green tea or cinnamon and ginger. The room’s humidity or dryness can also be controlled, making it fun for both sauna beginners and veterans alike. While you sit back and sweat it out, you can enjoy various sounds from nature to help you relax, like the crackling of a fire, the flow of a river, or the wind in a forest.
The sauna room is completely customizable and can play nature sounds of your choice.
Take Cold Water Shower
The cold water showers are chilled to a constant temperature and contain two separate shower heads installed by the head and shoulders. For those who do not wish to get their hair wet, there is also an option to receive cold water from the shoulder-facing shower head. When entering the shower area, all visitors will pass through a circle of light. This is a reference to the Buddhist practice of Enso, where a circle is drawn with a single brush stroke to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.
A circle of light representing the Buddhist practice of Ensō.
Enter the State of Sauna Trance
The exhibit’s creators hope to capture the near trance-like state that can be achieved by alternating between a steamy sauna and a cold shower. Medically speaking, this is a situation where the sympathetic nervous system is dominant during the sauna and cold water bath, then the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant during the rest period.”
The three separate stations at Reconnect designed to put you at one with the art.
It is in this “Sauna Trance” condition that teamLab believes art can be viewed best – for some visitors, viewing art after entering this state can heighten awareness and perception, making them feel like they themselves are becoming a part of the exhibit.
Submerge in Digital Art (Rest)
After entering the state of sauna trance, it’s time to submerge yourself and enjoy mesmerizing digital art. The first installation is the ‘Proliferating Immense Life in the Rain’, which utilizes projection on two large walls and takes you through the life cycle of plants throughout the year.
Over time, flowers bloom, petals wither, and eventually fade away.
The next exhibit is the ‘Ephemeral Solidified Light,’ giving the illusion of “Countless solidified light crystals float in the air, rising, falling, and sometimes frozen in space.” This strange part of the display further adds to the surreal factor by attempting to change your perception with its gravity-defying beams. This shock to your everyday world is intended to trigger a change in how you view the world.
Wonder around in the countless ‘light crystals’.
The final installation is called Levitation, which presents a mesmerizing and colorful orb floating in a black void. “The sphere falls to the ground and rolls away when people hit or impact it. But if there is no external interference, it will slowly rise into the air again, as though restoring itself to its original state.”
As you enter the sauna trance state, the 3D sphere starts to look like a flat circle in the 2D world.
The Ultra-technologists behind TikTok teamLab Reconnect
TeamLab is a collective group of artists, visionaries, engineers, programmers, and architects formed in 2001. The group has been known to refer to themselves as “ultra-technologists. Since its founding, the group has created dozens of exhibits across the world that stretch the imagination. A common feature of the works is using projection mapping to add interactively and moving art pieces directly onto walls or moving objects.
TeamLab member and our guide, Takashi Kudo, explains how Reconnect brings people to the “luxury state of mind”.
Event Details
For those of you wishing to experience this unique event, we recommend you hurry while it lasts. This event will be limited-time only. Official Site: https://reconnect.teamlab.art/en Location 5-10-25 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Schedule March 22, 2021 – August 31, 2021 Operating Hours 10:00 A.M. – 23:00 P.M. (Last entry by 21:30) Starting time will be from 12:00 P.M. from March 22 until April 23 for weekdays only. Admission Price Weekdays: 4,800 yen Holidays and Weekends: 5,800 yen
Christian Dakin is an editor, designer, and video game director currently based out of Tokyo, Japan. Originally from a small town in Georgia, he studied in Japan for a year in college before returning again for work. Christian enjoys studying Japanese and the outdoors. In his off time, he is most likely to be found adventuring to a castle, belting it out in karaoke with friends, or in a gym somewhere.