One of the beautiful aspects of digital video and audio that I fell in love with when first exploring the mediums, was the introduction of a time scale. teamLab’s Time-blossoming Flowers is a wonderful example of this. In none narrative works, in particular, timescale changes the experience of a work. The subtlety in which something can change and transform over time can add a wonderful undercurrent to a work. A traditional video has its limitations in that regards as there is almost always an upper limit on time. With generative and 3d imagery that time limit can be broken. In that space imagery can constantly be changing, never the same.
That’s the beauty of teamLab’s Time-blossoming Flowers – Taiwan. It changes from hour to hour, day to day, all year long. The work has a timeline on a human scale. It allows for a subtlety that would be otherwise hard to create or experience. As an installation piece, it allows people to interact with it and observe it in a way that would be difficult in a traditional viewing space. It seems to be a work that is meant to be lived with as it lives with you, growing and changing throughout the year, catching your eye and bringing you back to it time and time again to experience the differences.
The piece truly is timeless.
https://youtu.be/CeO3jSwNueg
From the project page
The appearance of the work changes throughout the day. It grows light with the sunrise, glows with the sunset, and darkens as the night sets in. The artwork is in sync with the actual sunrise and sunset every day at this location.
The flowers of Taiwan bloom one after the other as the seasons change with the passage of time throughout the year. The flowers known as the Four Gentlemen, the orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and plum, are used to represent the four seasons. The flowers sprout, then grow, bud, and bloom. Before long they scatter, wither, and fade away. In this way, the flowers continue their infinite cycle of birth and death.