Clare Jacobson

Karin G. Oen

Yuki Morishima

The digital collective teamLab, founded in Tokyo in 2001 by Toshiyuki Inoko, breaks established boundaries between the gallery and art world. This group--comprised of more than four hundred people including programmers, designers, and animators--creates immersive digital experiences outside of the realm of the traditional art world, navigating the confluence of art, technology, design, and the natural world. In many cases, it roots its imagery in historical Japanese art but uses the visual language of high-tech rendering and animation. Over the past few years, teamLab's projects have kept pace with technology and have evolved from two-dimensional screen-based animations to room-sized interactive installations. This book is a collection of essays, interviews and photographs exploring both the presence of teamLab's installations and the ideas and processes behind them. With a focus on the development of their work rather than the actual public displays, this book takes readers behind-the-scenes of a fascinating and thoroughly modern take on art. See the teamLab exhibit--the inaugural display in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco's new 9,500-square-foot exhibition pavilion: April 24 - September 7, 2020.

Continuity

TeamLab

Jeffrey Durham

Qamar Adamjee

What happens when the divine is given a body? Have gods created humans in their image, or is it the other way around? How do people express their values through the forms with which they present their bodies? Divine Bodies is a thought-provoking Asian art history book that explores intriguing questions like these raised by the sacred art traditions of Asia. Approximately 45 artworks from the Asian Art Museum's renowned collection show how artists have envisioned the divine, imbuing it with forms that are meant to reflect supernatural qualities. Additionally, 20 contemporary photographs suggest how some artists today deal with questions about the body and its manifold expressions. The book explores how ideal beauty is interpreted in different Asian cultures, how that beauty can be transformed by altering the forms of the body, how deities maintain their identity despite changes to their form, and how divine beings are represented after their death. By viewing these deity-images, readers—whether religious or not—can perceive the messages that artists wish to convey. But Divine Bodies invites readers to do more than just recognize and relate to the meanings inscribed on divine bodies: it also shows how divine imagery shapes and reflects the daily experiences of ordinary people. The novel topic of this book, its diverse and extraordinary artworks, and the unique perspectives of its authors make Divine Bodies a fine art book that will be talked about and thought about for years to come.

Karin G. Oen

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