Higher-Order Sculpture
2020
Many of the things humans have created over time have been material objects.
Objects have clearly defined boundaries, exist independently, and maintain a stable structure on their own. They continue to exist even if placed in a closed box, isolated from the external world.
On the other hand, a vortex created in the ocean disappears instantly when transferred into an enclosed box. A vortex does not have a structure of its own; it exists within the flow created by its environment. It is formed by water flowing from the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside, changing along with that flow. The contours of its existence are ambiguous.
Both the vortex and its surroundings are made of the same water. There is no material distinction between them, yet, the vortex clearly exists.
Within the concept of Environmental Phenomena, Higher-Order Sculpture is an existence that emerges specifically through a high order of energy generated by the environment. This is not a sculpture as a physical object that can exist independently. It is a sculpture that can only come into being on the premise of the environment as an open system.
The boundaries of the vortex’s existence are ambiguous, and even if its shape or size changes, or its constituent elements are replaced, its existence is maintained as long as the order is maintained. It changes along with the environment and disappears if the environment is lost.
What does it mean to create?
Here, the artist does not give form to materials. What the artist creates is the environment in which an existence can emerge. When an order of energy arises within that environment, an existence distinct from a physical object emerges.
For tens of thousands of years, humans have created things by giving form to materials. Creation shifts from making physical objects to creating environments in which existences emerge.
What does it mean to exist?
The essence of existence here is not an accumulation of matter. Like a vortex that exists despite having no material distinction from its surroundings, it is the very order of energy that arises within the environment.
The relationship between humans and existence also changes. Here, an existence emerges that cannot be directly controlled by intentional human force. The boundaries of its existence are ambiguous, and people can even immerse themselves physically into it.
Human presence and behavior affect the environment, disturbing the existence and sometimes breaking it. Yet as long as the environment is maintained, the existence restores itself. Existence is grounded not in human intention, but in the environment. Humans are no longer subjects that dominate objects, but beings that relate to them within the same environment as these existences.
Rather than presenting new materials or styles, Higher-Order Sculpture redefines the very conditions for the existence of sculpture. It is not matter, mass, or fixed contours, but the order of energy generated by the environment that brings the sculpture into being.
It is a fundamental intervention in the concept and methodology of humans creating things, and in the question of What does it mean to exist?
FEATURED WORKS
teamLab, 2025-, Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
Even if individual elements are separated in space and time, when a structural order appears among them, the elements transcend space and time and form a single entity. Despite significant changes in shape or size on the surface, or even if all of the elements are replaced, the single existence will be maintained. This spatiotemporal existence is part of the whole, it appears from the whole, and is returned to it. It is a living universe - a biocosmos.
Sculptural existence is born in space. It takes form on the ground as a mass and rises from the ground. Existence is born in the air, transcending the very concept of mass, and continues to exist mid-air, maintained in place. The boundaries of these existences are ambiguous, and the glowing spheres that compose them are continuously changing. Even when people fully immerse themselves in this sculpture, its existence remains intact. If broken by people, it naturally restores itself. Even if people try to move or push this floating entity, they cannot do so. Physical human actions cannot move the sculpture.
Rather than a solid object, this sculptural entity is created by the order of energy generated by the phenomena of a unique environment. Let us call this existence Higher-Order Sculpture. The artwork is inseparable from the environment and changes along with the environment. It transcends the conventional notions of physical objects—it sustains its existence mid-air, having ambiguous boundaries, and it is able to maintain its shape even when people immerse themselves physically into the sculpture, naturally restoring itself even if the sculpture breaks.
A sculpture based on the premise of an open system.
teamLab, 2020-, Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
This floating, immense sculpture emerges from a sea of bubbles, transcending the very concept of mass. It neither sinks to the ground nor rises completely to the ceiling, but instead drifts in the middle of the space. The contours of its existence are ambiguous—it fragments into smaller pieces, but merges into a larger mass. Even when people fully immerse themselves in this sculpture, its existence remains intact. If broken by people, it naturally restores itself. However, when the sculpture is destroyed beyond what it can repair, it collapses, unable to recover. Even if people try to move or push this floating sculpture, they cannot do so, and if they stir up wind, the sculpture disperses entirely. Physical human actions cannot move the sculpture.
Objects such as stones and man-made creations maintain a stable structure on their own. A stone will continue to exist even if placed in a sealed box, isolated from the external world.
On the other hand, a vortex created in the ocean disappears instantly when transferred into an enclosed box. In other words, a vortex does not maintain a stable structure independently. A vortex exists within the flow created by its environment formed by water continuously flowing from the outside to the inside and from the inside to the outside, maintained by the vortex’s ordered structure. This flow allows the vortex to shift as the surrounding currents change. Its boundaries are ambiguous. There is no material distinction between the vortex and its surroundings as they are made of water.
Rather than a solid object, this sculpture is created by the order of energy generated by the phenomena of a unique environment. Let us call this existence created by the order of energy, a Higher-Order Sculpture. The artwork is inseparable from the environment and changes along with the environment. It transcends the conventional notions of physical objects—it sustains its existence mid-air, having ambiguous boundaries, and it is able to maintain its shape even when people immerse themselves physically into the sculpture, naturally restoring itself even if the sculpture breaks.
A sculpture based on the premise of an open system.
The only material substances present in this space are water, air, and ordinary soap.
By filling the space with bubbles, a distinct environment is created in which an order of energy is born. By doing so, a massive form emerges from this sea of bubbles that floats steadily in mid-air.
In modern biology, the definition of life cannot be strictly defined, but everything that is structured upon cells, capable of metabolism, and self-reproduction are labeled living things for convenience. In other words, all living things are composed of cells. All cells are enclosed by a cell membrane constructed of a lipid bilayer, with the hydrophilic part facing outward and the hydrophobic part covered within the layers. Both the inside and outside of the enveloping membrane are liquid. Soap bubbles are similarly enveloped by lipid bilayer membranes, and these membranes are structurally identical to cell membranes. However, contrary to cells, the bilayer of the bubble membrane floats in and encloses air, so the hydrophobic part faces outward, while the hydrophilic part is covered within the layers. In other words, if we consider cells to be pouch-shaped membranes in liquid, then bubbles are pouch-shaped membranes in air.
This sculpture is created from substances composed in the same ways as cells, the structuring units of life-forms, and the order of energy created from this environment.
The same is true of life. It consumes external matter and energy as food and discharges it, sustaining its ordered structure as the energy dissipates. Life exists within the flow of matter and energy, and its contour, like a vortex, is ambiguous.
Perhaps, life is a miraculous phenomenon that emerges in the flow of matter and energy, and its structure is the order of energy created by that flow.
Levitation - Flattening Red and Blue & Blurred Violet
teamLab, 2021, Digital Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
In the artwork space, an order of energy is created, just like life.
The sphere is not supported by anything. Nevertheless, through the order of energy, the sphere transcends the concept of mass: it levitates in the space between the floor and ceiling, floating up and down. When a person taps the sphere, it floats away, falls to the ground, and rolls away. But if there is no external interference, it will slowly rise into the air again, as though restoring itself to its original state.
The sphere also appears to shift between two and three dimensions.
What is life? Viruses, for example, are considered to exist somewhere between living and inanimate, because they do not have cells, the smallest unit of biological life, and they do not reproduce. What separates the living from the inanimate cannot be defined biologically to this day.
That you continue to be tomorrow who you are today is against the law of increasing entropy, wherein tangible things collapse. In other words, in a universe where entropy (a measurement of the lack of order in a system) is supposedly being maximized, life is an entity that resists this trend. Life can be thought of as a “supernature” phenomenon: an occurrence that defies the laws of classical physics.
Physicist and 1977 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Ilya Prigogine, observed that in the natural world, when energy is absorbed from an external source, internal entropy is generated, then released. Prigogine discovered that there exists a non-equilibrium state that is only realized when this entropy is released. Through the dissipation of energy (or matter) and the removal of entropy, internal entropy is reduced and order is created. It can be said that living organisms take in energy from the outside in the form of food, disposing of entropy in the form of excrement, thereby preserving entropy.
Life can be thought of as an order of energy that is continuous with the external environment.
The existence of life can be thought of as a Supernature Phenomenon that defies the laws of physics. When an order of energy is created within the artwork space, the sphere transcends universal gravitation, violating physics as life does. The sphere slowly levitates, becomes suspended in the middle of the space, and floats up and down in the air.
When a person views the Supernature Phenomenon before them, it causes their perception to change, thus leading to a new cognitive experience that differs from that of everyday life.
This artwork aims to explore changes in cognition.
teamLab, 2025, from the series <span style="font-style: italic">Levitation - Flattening Red and Blue & Blurred Violet</span>, 2021-, Installation, Sound: teamLab
The void that gently rises from the ground levitates in the air is not suspended, nor does it have its own power. Its existence transcends the concept of mass, it levitates in the middle of the air, not on the ground or at the ceiling. At times it rises, and at times it sinks, yet remains floating in the air.
At times, it starts to move and sometimes it falls to the ground. However, as if to repair its state, it slowly rises up again and remains levitating in the air.
An order of energy is generated at the center of the space by a phenomenon of a unique environment. The order of energy thus creates this sculptural entity. Let us call this existence Higher-Order Sculpture. The artwork is inseparable from the environment and changes along with the environment. It transcends the conventional notions of physical objects—it sustains its existence mid-air, and naturally restores itself.
A sculpture based on the premise of an open system.
teamLab, 2025, Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
The two existences forming a pair that remain in the air are not suspended by anything, nor do they have their own power. Their existence transcends the concept of mass; they levitate in the middle of the air, neither on the ground nor at the ceiling. At times they rise, and at times they sink, yet they remain floating in the air.
An order of energy is generated in the space by a phenomenon of a unique environment. The order of energy thus creates these sculptural entities. Let us call this existence Higher-Order Sculpture. The artwork is inseparable from the environment and changes along with the environment. It transcends the conventional notions of physical objects—it sustains its existence mid-air, and naturally restores itself.
A sculpture based on the premise of an open system.