We visited Future World: Where Art Meets Science at ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands on Good Friday and it blew our minds!
Our visit didn’t start off so well. The queue to get tickets was horrendously long and after queuing for some time to get the tickets, we were told that we had to proceed downstairs and queue again to enter the exhibition! Good thing the kids were able to entertain themselves by chasing each other around the premises. After we managed to get in however, any irritation that had accumulated from the wait outside dissipated quickly.
Future World is the new permanent exhibition at ArtScience Museum with 15 spectacular art installations that evolve in real-time through visitor presence and participation. Future World is a collaboration with teamLab, an award-winning Tokyo-based art collective of “ultra-technologists” that includes artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects and designers.
NATURE
An interactive world of flora and fauna that invites you to reflect on our intricate relationship with the environment. In Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together – A Whole Year per Year | Ever Blossoming Life II – A Whole Year per Year; Dark | Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, a combination of three different artworks, we walked through a field of luminous flowers where the flowers either blossom or fade away. The installation is supposed to evolve throughout the year with the four different seasons, so no two visits will ever be the same.
can you see Adrian and David?
Next, we got a glimpse into the future wrought by climate change in 100 Years Sea Animation Diorama, which is based on scientific data from WWF, and we were reminded to reflect on the long-term environmental effects of the world’s rising sea levels due to climate change
100 Years Sea Animation Diorama
wheee!
TOWN
Connecting! Train Block gave the kids (and Adrian) a chance to design their own transportation network by using physical wooden blocks to design and connect an evolving system of roads, rivers and railways to keep the ever-increasing traffic flowing smoothly.
Connecting! Train Block
Our favourite installation was definitely Sketch Town! The kids created their own town landmarks by colouring in paper drawings of buildings and vehicles and then scanning them so that they appeared on the wall as 3D animated objects. You can even interact with the objects by touching them and making them move. Adam was so unbelievably excited when the truck he had coloured appeared on the wall and started making its way around the town. Sketch Town Paper Craft then turns the 3D digital drawings into physical paper craft models.
Sketch Town
Adam posing with his truck
making her building jump into the air
We created playful and vibrant structures from stacking blocks that glow and change colour when connected together in Media Block Chair. The high-tech blocks communicate information to each other when they are connected, changing colour with every addition or subtraction.
Media Block Chair
PARK
Park was all about PLAY! In Create! Hopscotch for Geniuses the kids got to design their own customised hopscotch game by arranging circles, triangles and squares on an electronic tablet, which are then projected onto the floor. When you land on the same shapes in succession, beautiful colours and sounds are triggered.
Create! Hopscotch for Geniuses
they did this over and over!
Light Ball Orchestra consists of beachball-sized globes of multicoloured light and sound. Touch any ball to change the colour and sound of the balls around it. The kids were screaming so happily as they rolled the balls all over the place that I couldn’t hear any particular sounds coming from the balls! There’s a little section with smaller balls that is set apart for younger children who may get bowled over by the bigger kids in the main orchestra pit!
Light Ball Orchestra
so much fun
Sketch Aquarium follows the same concept as Sketch Town. The installation allows you to create drawings of sea creatures and watch them come to life in a virtual ocean after you scan them. The busy sea creatures swim around and interact with each other and you can even feed them by touching fish food bags on the screen!
Sketch Aquarium
looking for his fish
I liked Story of the Time When Gods Were Everywhere but didn’t get to spend much time there. You can create your own environment by touching hieroglyphic characters and watch them transform into natural elements such as wind, rain, trees and mountains. The enthralling story of creation begins when you touch the characters, and the movement of your body further changes and evolves the world around you.
Story of the Time When Gods Were Everywhere
SPACE
We could not take our eyes off the more than 170,000 LED lights in Crystal Universe. This stunning artwork gives the illusion of stars moving in space. The light and body of the installation responds to your mass and motion. You can change the fabric of the universe itself by ‘swiping’ planets and stars from smart devices within the installation, and watch them become part of the dazzling environment around you. Simply breathtaking.
Crystal Universe
David lost in the lights
ADVISORY ON ADMISSION TIMES
Please note that timed-entry has been introduced since 1 April. Admission times are: 10 am, 11.30 am, 1 pm, 2.30 pm, 4 pm and 5.30 pm. I recommend getting your tickets online before heading down so that you can save some time to your visit. Apart from ArtScience Museum’s Box Office, tickets are also available at the MasterCard Theatres Box Office (B1, Marina Bay Sands).
FUTURE WORLD: Where Art Meets Science
Adult : S$16
Senior Citizen (65 years & above) : S$13
Child (2-12 years) : S$9
Student (with valid student pass) : S$13
FAMILY FRIDAYS
Children go free! Every Friday, up to four children under 12 years old enter for free with every adult ticket purchased.
Life in the Wee Hours 