teamLab Gallery: Matama Beach
Internationally renowned digital art collective teamLab has a permanent exhibit in a former sewing factory at Matama Beach titled “Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together––. . .” In this exhibit, digitally rendered flowers native to the Kunisaki Peninsula interact with visitors. When a person stands close to the flowers, the flowers either bloom or fall and die. Over the course of an hour, viewers will see a year pass as the flowers bloom and wither in succession.
teamLab came to prominence with an eye-catching installation at the 2014 Kunisaki Art Festival and report being inspired by the vast quantity of cherry blossoms and canola flowers located around the Kunisaki Peninsula. Their artwork studies the relationship between humans and flowers, emphasizing the message that flowers depend on human interaction to survive. This exhibit is one of three permanent teamLab installations in Bungotakada. The other locations are Bungotakada City Hall and the Showa no Machi shopping district.