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High-Tech 'teamLab': Continuity' Exhibits Opens At Asian Art Museum in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A dazzling, high-tech exhibit called teamLab: Continuity allows visitors to step into an other-worldly experience, where you can become part of the ever-changing art.

The Asian Art Museum is the first museum in the US to display such largescale works from the popular Tokyo-based collaborative teamLab, known for its interconnected digital works.

"Most of the elements in the exhibition are interactive," said teamLab Member Kazumasa Nonaka. "Your presence and behavior will influence the way they move and exist in the exhibition. And also all the elements are influencing each other, so your participation really makes the entire exhibition dynamic and more complex."

Everything reacts to motion and touch, because there are sensors everywhere. For example, when you put your hand against the wall, butterflies start to appear, or fish start to disperse.

Some of the rooms are even fragrant to mirror the explosions of spring flowers.

"Long story short, it is the art experience like none other," said Asian Art Museum CEO Jay Xu. "It's most cutting edge, but it's also deeply rooted in artistic tradition."

Visitors can also draw and design their own sea creatures to digitally add to the displays.

The immersive exhibit is debuting in the museum's newest wing - the Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion.

"We're very cognizant - people of Asian descent have made tremendous contributions to this region, from railroad building to today's Silicon Valley," said Xu. "That's also the reason we debuted our new pavilion with this marvelous exhibition that art marries technology."

'Continuity' also hopes to remind humans to be respectful in our interactions with nature.

The exhibit opens this Friday, July 23, and it will run for several months. Tickets are free for museum members and start at $20 for guests.

For more info, visit Asian Art

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