--What is the concept behind the interactive installation "Floating Flower Garden—Flowers and I are of the same origin, the garden and I are one," currently on display at the "Dancing! Art Exhibition"? It's unusual to use fresh flowers.

The title is a play on an old Zen phrase: "When you look at flowers and feel as if they are looking at you, you will achieve a sense of oneness with the flowers." Basically, I wanted visitors to feel a sense of oneness with the space, just as Zen monks get the illusion of being in real nature when practicing in gardens that mimic nature. We all go to stylish flower shops and decorate our rooms with flowers, thinking they're coexisting with them, but we've never actually seen them up close like this, right?

--It felt like I was confronting the flowers once again.

This work uses a sensor to detect people, causing the flowers to rise, and you have to wait for the flowers to make space for you to move forward. In other words, it's a device that forces you to confront the flowers. When the flowers look at me, a space is created, and only then can I become aware of the flowers and feel that the flowers are aware of me.
"Floating Flower Garden—Flowers and I are of the same origin, the garden and I are one"

--On the other hand, "Flowers and People, Uncontrollable but Living Together, and Forever—Tokyo" is a very impressive work, featuring digital floral representations.

Yes, it's a completely different approach from Floating Flower Garden. In 2014, I went to Kunisaki to scout out a permanent piece for the Kunisaki Peninsula Art Festival ("Flowers and People, Uncontrollable but Living Together—Kunisaki Peninsula"), and it was amazing. Flowers were blooming everywhere, so much so that it was hard to believe they were native. Apparently, some of the rapeseed is planted by the people of Kunisaki, and continues to grow from seeds. That's why Yoko Ono, who exhibited at the Kunisaki Peninsula Art Festival, made a bench, and Choi Jeong-hwa, who creates eye-catching works with colorful flowers, even built a hill in the rapeseed field. I think everyone was captivated by Kunisaki's nature, and thought it would be better to create something to admire this vast landscape rather than just showcasing their own work. (laughs)

--I see (laughs).

That was the trigger that made me realize that there are environments that exist only when humans understand and control nature. When we say "nature" in English, we imagine the untouched land of Alaska or the Sahara Desert, but Japanese people don't think of the Sahara Desert as "abundant nature." For Japanese people, "nature" always means the presence of humans. Without humans, it's not even nature. In other words, "nature" for Japanese people is a very comfortable space, but "nature" in Western terms is something that is somewhat of an object of wonder. Kunisaki is home to Japan's oldest rice terraces, and I always thought it was a place rich in nature, but no matter how you look at it, it's a mass of technology. When I think about it that way, even if we can't control everything, I think people certainly exist there, living with the flowers.

--You love flowers, don't you?

In this video installation, the flowers grow and decay on their own, rapidly multiplying or dying when they sense human presence. Flowers are out of our control, but we coexist.
"Flowers and People, Uncontrollable Yet Living Together, and Forever—Tokyo"


[Event Information]
teamLab Dance! Art Exhibition and Learn! Future Amusement Park
Venue: Miraikan (National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation)
Address: 2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Dates: November 29, 2014 to May 10, 2015
Hours: 10:00 to 17:00 (until 19:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; admission 30 minutes before closing) *Opening hours will be extended to 19:00 during Golden Week (April 29 to May 10).
Closed: Tuesdays (open on April 28th and May 5th)
Admission: On the day: 1,800 yen for adults, 1,200 yen for elementary school students and above under 18 years old (1,100 yen on Saturdays), 900 yen for children 3 years old and above under elementary school age; repeater discount: 1,600 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for elementary school students and above under 18 years old (920 yen on Saturdays), 700 yen for children 3 years old and above under elementary school age
On Children's Day, May 5th, the admission price for elementary school students and above under 18 years old will be reduced from 1,200 yen to 1,100 yen

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