Two years in the making, Story of the Forest – an interactive digital installation that brings 69 drawings of the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings alive, makes it public debut on Saturday 10 December 2016. The work was commissioned as part of the revamp of the permanent galleries of the National Museum of Singapore for the Glass Rotunda. The scale and curvature of the venue presented huge challenges to the Japanese digital art collective behind it, teamLab and required team of 30 to be assembled. Much of the task, including pre-production, was carried out at teamLab’s base in Japan and this included the construction of a full scale mockup. A large enough warehouse – there apparently was the only one in Tokyo that the mock-up could fit into – was used for the mockup.
Story of the Forest, by teamLab.
Cascading flowers of Story of the Forest’s first segment.
The interactive second segment that takes visitors down a 170m walkway to the lower rotunda.
More of the second segment.
Deeply inspired by the set of drawings on which the installation draws on for its images, teamLab’s has come up with one of the most amazing of installations that takes visitors on a journey of rediscovery through the rich assembly of flora and fauna that the Farquhar collection so beautifully captures. The Glass Rotunda, an architectural response of the Neo-Palladian rotunda of the museum’s main building, is a huge space to fill. It has a 15 metre high ceiling and a spiral walkway that requires the installation to be stretched across some 170 metres. teamLab response to this is a three segment installation. Cascading flora greets the visitors at the entrance, before the journey begins down the walkway with animals serving as a guide. A mobile app is available to enhance this experience. The app allows the “capture” of animals through the phone’s camera. The climax of the installation is a very dynamic one that takes place at the lower rotunda. Running animals, blooming trees, shooting stars and falling fruits make the experience especially immersive.
The lower rotunda is also where a second installation can be viewed – that of Robert Zhao’s Singapore, Very Old Tree. 17 photographs of the 30 photographs in the collection are one display. The photographs explore the nation’s identity and uncovers the personal relationships between people and trees.
Singapore, A Very Old Tree.
Admission to the Glass Rotunda (and Permanent Galleries) will be free to all visitors during the opening weekend on 10 and 11 December 2016 (it is also free on a permanent basis for Singaporeans and PRs). A host of activities for the family is also being lined up, more information on which can be found at www.nationalmuseum.sg.
A Patek Phillippe ‘Farquhar Collection’ Dome table clock donated by Hour Glass. Proceeds from an auction have gone to the revamp of the Glass Rotunda.
Second Nature, an interactive and immersive “secret garden” exhibit that features elements from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings and reacts to your movements! Visitors are encouraged to participate and engage with the exhibit, as well as contribute to the installation by folding origami flowers and attaching them to a flowering board
Wings of a Rich Manoeuvre. A permanent installation by Suzann Victor for Swarovski, which was unveiled on 30 Nov 2016.
The Long and Winding Road 