Iris van Herpen takes centre stage at the ArtScience Museum this year

Japanese art collective teamLab, whose works are wildly popular in Singapore, has added two new works to the ArtScience Museum, but for a limited time.  

Part of a series titled Dissipative Figures, which debuted in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2022, these works are now part of teamLab’s permanent show, Future World: Where Art Meets Science. The end date for the new exhibits has not been set.

The additions kick-start the museum’s 2025 season, titled Mind And Body: The Art And Science Of Being Human, which will run till July.

At a media launch at the museum on Jan 21, its vice-president Honor Harger said: “At a time dominated by global conversations about artificial intelligence and its implications, Mind And Body offers a timely exploration of what it means to think, feel and exist as human beings. This season is designed for audiences to imagine new possibilities and engage deeply with the interplay of thought, sensation and identity.”

In line with this theme are two upcoming blockbuster exhibitions debuting in Asia.

Fashionistas will cheer the arrival of Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting The Senses on March 15. The Dutch fashion designer is famed for her spectacular, kinetic haute couture creations that use cutting-edge technologies ranging from 3D printing to unusual materials to laser cutting.

This major retrospective, a collaboration with the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, will put more than 90 of her pieces in dialogue with natural history specimens as well as contemporary artworks.

Another show taps the current craze for immersive experiences. Mirror Mirror: Journey Into The Mind opens on March 1. The interactive experience is spread across eight rooms, where visitors will encounter colourful spaces themed on an exploration of the human mind. Created by Canadian multimedia entertainment company Moment Factory, each room is designed to trigger visitor participation and interactions. 

Besides exhibitions, the museum is also opening a 320 sq m learning facility called the ArtScience Laboratory. It is described in the museum’s statement as “a permanent centre for visitors to learn at the intersection of art, science and technology”.

Since it opened in 2011, the museum has offered workshops and educational programmes for all ages. The new facility located in Basement 2 will open in mid-February and its programmes will include workshops focused on sustainability, digital coding sessions and artmaking inspired by scientific principles.

Describing the Laboratory as the most significant new permanent development at the museum in over a decade, Ms Harger added: “This new learning centre strengthens our commitment to empowering future generations of creative thinkers by making interdisciplinary learning central to everything we do.”

This article was originally published in The Straits Times.