A STUDY ON COLLECTIVE IMMERSION AND COSMIC SUBLIME: AN ANALYSIS ON TEAMLAB PLANETS EXHIBITION & OLAFUR ELIASSON’S ‘THE WEATHER PROJECT’

Abstract

This paper will focus on the different ideas surrounding light installations at TeamLab: Planets in Japan and Olafur Eliasson’s “The Weather Project” through curatorial writings and phenomenological analysis of the artworks. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to determine the impact of light installations on audiences by examining an international art collective founded in Tokyo called TeamLab, well-known for their expansive installations that engage viewers in an immersive and interactive world through the use of digital projection, sound, and interactive technology and a well-known light installation by Olafur Eliasson that was displayed in 2003 in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, London. Despite having various curatorial writings and researches, my thesis will be focusing on analyzing a few of the light installations at TeamLab Planets’ exhibition and also one of Eliasson’s older but still well-known pieces of art, The Weather Project. Observations are achieved by going through curatorial writing and also audiences’ responses in social media such as Facebook, Instagram & Twitter to understand the different views that are being perceived on the artworks. My overall approach is to fully understand the effects of the light installations’ surroundings on the audience, as well as the various contexts that arise within the distribution process through contextual analysis. Furthermore, this study aims to show that light installations can be exhibited and understood in a variety of ways, such as establishing a sense of unity among viewers and conveying a spiritual experience through the use of light and nature as a concept.