Heading to Kyoto
Today we are doing a day trip to Kyoto. teamLab Biovortex recently just opened in Kyoto and we are lucky enough to have tickets to visit. So after a quick convenience breakfast from our hotel, we set out to catch the train to Kyoto.
It’s a beautiful day to be out and about outside, and I can’t help but enjoy these normal Japanese streets as we make our way to the train station.
It takes roughly an hour for us to get to Kyoto. It’s nice to see Touchpad and Chef’s family enjoying the train ride and it makes the time go by quickly! Soon we are pulling into Kyoto Station and we disembark and make our way to our destination for the day.
teamLabs Biovortex
From the outside the teamLabs Biovortex building is fairly nondescript. Upon entering, you are directed to the locker area where you can leave your valuables and belongings before entering the venue.
I debated “spoiling” the exhibits inside by writing about it here. What I’m going to do is show off some of the exhibits that are either common to other teamLab exhibits in other cities. I’ll also show some fairly popular and well known exhibits. But I’ll leave out some of the exhibits that are very unique and should probably be experienced in person. That being said, there are likely spoilers below so please proceed at your own discretion!
First Floor
Upon entering the main area, you’re presented with a large area with multimedia projections on the walls and the floor. This area contains a variety of art exhibits including: Flow Reaches Far, Silent Radiance Within, Memory of Waves in the Sky, Nirvana: Fleeting Flowers, Continuous Life and Death at the Now of Eternity, Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together and Universe of Water Particles. There are some pretty amazing projections and images all throughout the area. We all spend our time slowly making our way through the different exhibits. In one of the corners is a small place to line up to get into a smaller but very cool exhibit. It’s called Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well. It’s a small room which has a very fast paced projection on what “feels” like an uneven surface. Because it’s so dark it feels like you’re flying along with the crows even though you’re standing still. I like this exhibit a a lot. I didn’t include any photos of this as I feel it needs to be experienced first hand.
Infinite Crystal World
This is a large room with hanging string lights that will flash and change colour in different timings and patterns. This is a similar exhibit to the teamLab Planets one I visited a few years ago. Nonetheless it’s still very fun to check out, especially when you’re with friends!
Forest of Resonating Lamps: One Stroke – a Year in the Mountains
Similar to the hanging plants at teamLab Planets, this is a room full of hanging lamps. The lamps will change colour and turn on and off at different times. I really enjoy spending time seeing the different colours that would light the room as it brings about a different ambiance.
Transient Abstract Life and Return
Another unique exhibit is the Transient Abstract Life and Return. It is a small glass “box” that guests can don some rubber boots and step into this viscous sludge mixture. Everybody gets a few minutes to walk around and make your own swirls in the liquid. It’s a very “hands on” exhibit and one worth the time in line to try.
On the same floor as the Transient Abstract Life and return is one of my favourite exhibits at teamLabs BioVortex. It’s called the Massless Amorphous Sculpture. It’s a very interactive exhibit and one that all of us thought is super unique! I won’t spoil it in this post because its something that needs to be experienced first hand.
Third Floor Exhibits
On the third floor there are several other cool exhibits including the Megaliths in the Eternal Existence of the Open Universe, Resonating Microcosms – Solidified Light, Sea of Solidified Light and Spherical Crystallized Light. I think at this point, its safe to say that everything is a feast for the eyes. The ever changing projections on the very abnormal shapes makes the whole experience dynamic and cool to see.
Sketch Ocean
Similar to my visit to the Singapore ArtScience Museum. There is a place where people can create art, scan it in and have it appear on the living wall in the room. So naturally I need to leave a Minion Mark here too!
Athletics Forest
The top floor of teamLabs BioVortex is called the Athletics Forest. It’s a huge play area that are also art exhibits! These include Graffiti Nature and Beating Earth, Balance Stepping Stones in the Invisible World, Multi Jumping Universe, Floating Cosmic Spheres, Aerial Climbing through a flock of Colored Birds and Waterfall Droplets Flowing Down a Slope. It’s a cool interactive area where the actions you take have affect on the projections. We all spend an hour or two here enjoying the different exhibits.
Tajimaya
After our visit to teamLabs BioVortex, it’s already the afternoon. We make our way back to the train station and get on a train back to Osaka. Instead of heading back to our hotel we head straight to dinner. It’s our last dinner together and we decide to have all you can eat Shabu Shabu at Tajimaya. This is the same restaurant Salmonella went with his friend the night before and he highly recommends it. We get a table and start to chow down on all the delicious food offerings available. We spend the evening enjoying food and reminiscing on the days events.
After dinner we walk back to our hotel, taking in a bit of Osaka’s nightlife before retiring to our rooms. Tomorrow Salmonella, Chef, Touchpad and family will be heading back to Tokyo on their way home. I have another full day here in Osaka which I intend to visit the World Expo.
Must be a wonderful experience for the kids!