This is the last TeamLab post (for a little while, at least). I’ve been saving this one for last, since I think it’s my favorite (or, at the very least, the most psychedelic), so I’m hoping you enjoy it. Like the others, it combines traditional Japanese art styles with various modern elements, in this case they are using video which progresses the art piece as an actual story.

Check out this video (preferably in full screen) to see it in action.

In 2009, the World Wildlife Fund (Not to be confused with the World Wrestling Federation, which is equally as smashy) announced their prediction that sea levels will rise 120cm by the end of the century. 100 Years Sea visualizes this using traditional Japanese art styles. Besides the somewhat political nature of the film, here is the artistic concept behind it, as reported by TeamLab.

“Historically Japanese artist painted and expressed waves using a combination of lines. These assembled lines give the impression of the life and energy of the sea as one living creature. Looking at the sea we feel awe, and it is probably due to this awe that Japanese artists chose to express the sea as a living entity. Japanese ancestors possibly saw the world exactly as it is depicted in a classic Japanese print. Based on this idea, we considered recombining the subjective view of that of our ancestors with the fixed objective view of the modern world. We constructed virtual waves in a 3D environment that regardless of the cut, have the appearance of the combined line style of Japanese painting. As a result we think it might be possible to gain an impression of what the world looked like to our Japanese ancestors. This movie attempts to recreate the recognition of space of our Japanese ancestors’ in 3 dimensions. In doing so, we may be able to discover a new mode of expression in which viewers feel there is no border between the world of the movie and the world in which they live. As a result viewers may be able to feel the movie more physically.” (read more)

The video version above is actually the shorter, faster version (apparently the original actually takes 100 years to complete?). It’s displayed on a gigantic 20 meters of screen, so if you get motion sick easily then maybe this isn’t the best art installation for you.

Anyways, I’ll be watching TeamLab for any cool updates, so enjoy the TeamLab hiatus, for now. So what do you think. Is sea rise going to happen and swallow up Japan? Hopefully not, but at least my favorite monkey friends are safe in the mountains.

A lot of you out there know how much of a (sad) Apple fanboy I am, which means you’ll probably understand why iPhone art makes my heartbeat increase. This is the post I was going to post the other day (before getting distracted by Wacom Japan’s little flash game), and yes, it’s also developed by my new favorite art / design / tech group Team-Lab. We’ve already seen how nice and shiny LCD screens can modernize hanging scrolls, but what if you want to take your hanging scrolls on the train? First, you’d have to get four iPhones, but if you’re a multi-millionaire, then why not?

(Check out a video here.)

The trick with these hanging scroll iPhones is to put them side by side and synchronize the start time of each. When this is done, the hanging scrolls tell a story (not unlike regular hanging scrolls), using traditional art styles via a new medium. Personally, I love the 3D-but-not-3D style that Team-Lab puts into a lot of their design, and the iPhone’s a great touch too.

Of course, now that this has come out, there are rumors of a slightly homelier Android version hitting the market too. This new Android mobile hanging scroll model will drop fewer calls and run on Verizon, which encourages you to purchase the family plan with unlimited scroll-viewing minutes for only $49.99 a month.

Oh, and you should follow Tofugu on Twitter.

]]> http://www.tofugu.com/2010/01/10/making-the-traditional-hanging-scroll-mobile-iphone-edition/feed/ 27 http://www.tofugu.com/2010/01/09/how-wacom-japan-gets-you-to-buy-their-very-expensive-tablets-cute-mesmerization/ http://www.tofugu.com/2010/01/09/how-wacom-japan-gets-you-to-buy-their-very-expensive-tablets-cute-mesmerization/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:56:29 +0000 http://www.tofugu.com/?p=2271 [vimeo:http://vimeo.com/8642168 590 420]

Welcome to another edition of “Saturday Time Waster.” There seems to be a huge difference between American flash games and Japanese flash games. Although this isn’t 100% the case, it seems like most of the time, Japanese flash games are all about making you feel nice and calm. Most of the games seem to have no end, and they attempt to down you with pleasant music and cuteness. I suppose if I was a hard working “Sarari man” I’d want something to calm me down too while I was hiding out in my cubical playing flash games.

This particular game was made by my friends at Team-Lab (they’re the ones that did the fantastically mesmerizing ”Flower and Corpse“), who I’ll be slowly covering over the course of the month. I was originally going to put something up for all you Apple lovers today (which I suppose will have to wait), when I came across this game that Team-Lab made with Wacom (the folks that make those really cool, yet expensive tablets). As you’re playing this game, it definitely makes the tablet yearner in all of us think “man, I wish I had $500-$1000 to buy a tablet to play this game with.” Add that to the zombie / mesmerized feeling you get while playing the game… and you’ve created the perfect monster… er… customer.

You can play the game yourself, or watch the video showing my attempt to win the game. I’m pretty sure if you fill the screen with angry neon pigs that counts as a win, right? At least I didn’t buy a tablet… yet.

Play now: http://tablet.wacom.co.jp/bambooplayroom/

Oh, and you should follow Tofugu on Twitter.

A friend of mine who splits his work time between TEAMLAB (which does the art I’m about to talk about) and Pixiv (a Japanese art sharing community) told me about their most recent project (which we’ll get to in the next couple of days) and it just absolutely blew me away. That got me poking around their portfolio, and time and time again I found myself hitting the full screen button and becoming hypnotized. I’d love to have some of their art on my wall, but I can’t afford all the LCD screens required.

“Flower And Corpse”

“Flower and Corpse” consists of 12 LED screens (think of them as modern-day hanging scrolls) that coordinate a story. Now, the really interesting thing about these hanging scrolls, is that they tell a story in 4 dimensions. The first three dimensions consist of the 3d art-style being used, and the fourth dimension comes from the various “scrolls,” which creates a time axis (and the 4th dimension). Really interesting stuff if you ask me, though it’s probably best if you just watched it. Be sure to full screen this sucker.

The story that takes place on these 12 LCD scrolls consists of the following. It can also be read here.

1. At the zenith of the HEIAN-era’s prosperity, Hikaru Genji lives in brilliant colors. One day, the capital HEIAN-KYO is suddenly struck by an unfortunate disease. Hikaru Genji leaves the capital on a quest to find out the cause of the disease that has fallen on his people.
2. Continuing on his search Hikaru Genji follows the trail of the disease and he arrives at a village. The village is holding a festival of thanks and gratitude to nature for its benevolence.
3. After the festival, the village starts to return to normal life, and the people live bravely and courageously even though there is still the threat of disease. They fell trees and work hard to continue to develop the civilization. Nature rewards the people with its benevolence and the people live good and peaceful lives.
4. The village people are requested to cut down more and more trees by the capital governor, in order to construct more buildings in the city. The village people plan to cut down a big tree from a forest deep in the mountains. After cutting down the big tree, suddenly, a YAMATANOOROCHI appears. The dragon burns with anger, and lets loose heavy rains that flood the village.
5. The YAMATANOOROCHI carry on rampaging and destroying the houses of the village. Then the forest gods come down to the village and take out their anger on the people in the village.
6. When the plight of the village is reported to the governor, he sends a group of Samurai to drive out the YAMATANOOROCHI and forest gods. The Samurai go to the village and start to fight the dragons with flaming arrows. After bitter fighting, the Samurai finally win the battle and kill the YAMATANOOROCHI and forest gods.
7. After the fight there is desolation, the ground is scorched and the houses are wrecked. The village loses nature’s benevolence and the people begin to suffer the torments of hunger.
8. Hikaru Genji is stunned as he stands surrounded by the dead YAMATANOOROCHI and forest Gods. In a state of bemusement Hikaru Genji tries casting seeds over the corpses. After a while, Shoots comes out from the bodies of the dead and flowers begin to blossom from them. Those flowers grow up trees and the forest comes back to life. The village people who have survived start to feel once again the benevolent forces of nature. They realize that whilst they make progress and start to develop civilization they must live in harmony with the forest. Finally, the festival is held in the village again.

Over the next week or two, I’ll introduce you to a few more TEAMLAB projects. I’ve been seeing a lot more modern traditional style art lately – I wonder if there’s a traditional art + modern style resurgence going on. Anyways, watch the art and become smart, etc.