Black Waves, a moving art exhibit at Future World. All images credit Leong Qi Tyng

What happens when science meets the arts? Enter The Future World exhibit, currently ongoing at the ArtScience Museum, Singapore.

Created in collaboration with teamLab, the exhibition features interactive projects and art installations for both young children and adults to enjoy.

Organised in four themes; Nature, Town, Park, and Space, the intention of the exhibit is to explore how art, science and technology meet and what happens when they do.

Upon entering the museum, I was lucky enough to be the first in line to catch a show; an animated short illustrating the creation of life. The film is projected on the four walls of the room and the floor and though mesmerising, it can be dizzying to some.

Meanwhile, the duration of the colourful light show was as long as its title: Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space.

The inspiration of the show comes from the Yatagarasu, a three-legged crow from Japanese mythology. This mythological bird is believed to be the embodiment of the sun.

As I explored further to the second gallery, I chanced upon a displayed artwork titled Black Waves.

The moving waves made me think of the famous painting, The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai. Pillows were placed in the middle of the room so guests could lay back and watch the waves actually travel and crash into each other.

Yes, the artwork moves!

Children would absolutely adore the Town section because this is where they could unleash their imagination. Guests have the option to ride Sliding through the Fruit Field or head straight over to Sketch Town.

You guessed it, there was an actual slide as well. Being a big kid, I chose the slide while my family skipped ahead.

For this exhibit, our body acted as the sunlight while the animated balls on the slide contained components for plants to grow such as water. It was like a gardening pinball game: our body would collide with the balls as we slide past and the balls would hit the plants or seeds to help them grow.

Sketch Town and Sketch Town Paper Craft enlists help from young children to populate virtual towns with their creativity and imagination.

They get to scan in their colourings of transportation and buildings which would be animated across the gallery walls.

The drawings on the wall were also interactive: tapping on the planes would fire weapons at the flying dragon. This exhibit was a hit with kids and I spotted several adults colouring as well.

After scanning your masterpiece, you get a 3D model plan of your work. Scissors and glue were provided in the crafting area. Personally, this exhibit was when art met science!

Got some crafty kids? Media Block Chairs is like a kid’s Ikea. Here, they get to build their own furniture using colourfully lit cubes.

The cubes are about an adult’s knee height. Each cube has three indented sides and three protruding sides. Kids can experiment changing colours of the cubes as they add or subtract the number of cubes.

In Connecting Train Blocks, kids get to dabble in urban planning by building their own transportation system and waterways.

They can also play with the little people at A Table Where Little People Live and watch the tiny inhabitants attempt to climb up their sleeves.

Don’t forget to look down as well. The floors in Sketch Town is the canvas for Graffiti Nature. I spotted two whale sharks and colourful lizards during my visit.

The animals avoided me when I tried to get a closer look. Flowers bloomed around my feet when I stood still.

Under the Park section, guests were encouraged to reflect that ‘play’ is not only important for young children, but also adults.

The experience started off with a virtual waterfall named Universe of Water Particles. I saw a lot of quirky jellyfishes swimming across the room at Sketch Aquarium.

Similar to Sketch Town, guests got to scan in drawings of sea life in this section of the gallery. Children could design their hopscotch layout in Create! Hopscotch for Geniuses and play with nature at Story of the Time When Gods were Everywhere.

The one exhibit I didn’t fully participate in was the Light Ball Orchestra because I didn’t want to bump into the smaller kids. Children get to pat, push or bounce the inflatable balls around to change the colours and create music.

Interacting with the larger balls would change the colour of all the balls around it, even the ones hanging from the ceiling.

Lastly, the Space section is a room full of lights named the Crystal Universe. It is in this space where guests play a role in forming their experience.

As guests walk along, the movement would affect the light particles and trigger a change to the installation.

It is also important to note that each visit to Future World may differ slightly as the exhibition depends on interaction and more attractions will be added over time to bring richer experiences.

Future World is a permanent exhibition held at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. The museum opens from 10 am and closes at 7pm. To purchase tickets, click here. Any upcoming artistic events and or gigs taking place at Singapore? Drop us a comment or email us at [email protected] 

Tags: ArtScience Museum Singapore