teamLab is an art collective that has been active since 2001. It is an international, cross-disciplinary group of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects who explore the intersection of art, science, technology, and nature through collaborative creation.
Many of their artworks have been exhibited around the world, including a permanent exhibition called Future World at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, which I visited previously. Thinking back, it truly embodied the distinctive style of teamLab.
EPSON teamLab Borderless is a magical world of light and shadow. The Shanghai location is likely the second teamLab Borderless museum globally, following Tokyo. “Borderless” means that art without boundaries moves out of rooms to interact with other works. There are no borders between the artworks; they sometimes blend together and sometimes influence one another. These intermingling works create a continuous, borderless world.
Located on Huayuengang Road in the Puxi Expo Park, the museum covers approximately 6,000 square meters and features a vast collection of teamLab’s classic works. It utilizes a total of 480 projectors and 980 sets of beam lights. A single space may contain many different artworks, and because the environment is quite dark, it is very easy to get lost. Walking through the exhibition a second time might reveal a completely different experience. Since the actual brightness on-site is not very high, photo results aren’t great either. Moreover, the museum’s official website has videos of almost all the exhibitions, seemingly unafraid of people knowing about them—after all, the awe experienced on-site simply cannot be felt through a video.
Capturing the scenes is already difficult, and photographing people is practically impossible. Although I kept snapping away with my camera, I could barely select these few photos to share. To truly experience this wonderful world of light and shadow, you really need to be there in person. Furthermore, many exhibits offer more than just visual appeal; they are interactive. Intentional or accidental touches might even make flowers bloom.
On a separate note, there is a restaurant on the third-floor terrace of the museum called Martell@Borderless Shanghai. I’m not sure if this restaurant is temporary, but it has no indoor seating—only a terrace covered by a rain tarp. The path from the kitchen to the dining area includes a section with absolutely no cover, so if there is heavy rain and wind, dining is basically impossible. Once summer arrives, it might also be unbearably hot…
Because this place was recommended by a popular influencer and featured two specially designed dishes, I decided to give it a try during Restaurant Week. The entire ordering process was conducted via WeChat, and when placing an order, you can also purchase a discounted ticket for the exhibition downstairs (50 yuan off). However, the food was honestly quite disappointing…
The soup of the day and salad were mediocre—neither good nor bad. Both main courses were complete failures. The grilled squid looked decent but was tough as rubber and impossible to chew… and completely bland. The steak sandwich was perhaps only marginally better than the squid: greasy, soggy, not crispy at all, and the portion size was tiny. Finally, the pasta dish was equally tasteless, and instead of proper pasta, they used noodles similar to thin dried wheat noodles that were extremely soft. In the end, the only satisfying item was probably the cocktail… It was indeed a very disappointing meal….
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