Walk, Walk, Walk: Digital Installation by teamLab

Currently on view at National Gallery Singapore, this large-scale interactive digital installation entitled Walk, Walk, Walk: Search, Deviate, Reunite by Japanese art collective teamLab is made of a group of anonymous and diverse figures that keep walking and as they move, the artwork moves along with them. Visitors can interact with the art by touching the figures which stops, changes directions or chooses a different path. Based on the Zen expression “Hoho kore dojo” that says every step is the place to learn, the figures walk endlessly while confronting new situations which also encourages the visitors to choose their own path as they move along with the artwork.

“The 3D environment is set in a manner by which the introspective journey of the individual is continually challenged by the presence of figures, playfully enticing, teasing, responding to the spectator as if sensing his or her movement, body heat and voice. The work establishes the make-believe world between the real and unreal. Human interaction is interspersed with that of the virtual characters. The multiple digital protagonists populating the space continually crosses the path of the person visiting – blurring the lines between the two worlds. The physical and digital sharing the ephemeral moments in a fleeting encounter.”

This space is made of a group of anonymous and diverse figures.The figures keep walking and as they do the artwork moves. When visitors touch the figures, they react, sometimes stop, sometimes change the direction and choose a different path. Visitors  make decisions and choices as they keep walking. If visitors physically stop, the figures in front of them continue to move and interchange.

The Zen expression “Hoho kore dojo” says every step is the place to learn. The figures of the work continue walking endlessly while confronting new situations. Walking after the figures or confronting new figures one after another the visitors also make choices along their own path.

The work is rendered in real time by a computer program, it is neither a prerecorded animation nor imagery on loop.The work as a whole is in constant change; previous states will never be repeated and can never be seen again.

This large-scale interactive digital installation Walk, Walk, Walk: Search, Deviate, Reunite welcomes the visitors into a labyrinth of space, encounters and confrontations presenting endless narrative cycles in the quest for enlightenment. The 3D environment is set in a manner by which the introspective journey of the individual is continually challenged by the presence of figures, playfully enticing, teasing, responding to the spectator as if sensing his or her movement, body heat and voice.

The work establishes the make-believe world between the real and unreal. Human interaction is interspersed with that of the virtual characters. The multiple digital protagonists populating the space continually crosses the path of the person visiting – blurring the lines between the two worlds. The physical and digital sharing the ephemeral moments in a fleeting encounter.

Like many of teamLab’s earlier works, this immersive work reflects the collective’s continued exploration of Japanese space logic. As the visitor navigate through this experience, his or her sense of direction will continuously be presented with options, which path to take, which image to follow or interact with. The anonymity and multiplicity of the individual characters in space empowers the spectators to create their pockets of stories – make their own choices towards what they deem as the path to enlightenment.