The choice to focus on the rainforests for the first\u00a0exhibition\u00a0here may seem a bit surprising and at odds with the \u201cdata\u201d of it all, but when you look at Anadol\u2019s focus on nature through his work, it\u2019s not surprising at all. The\u00a0large language model\u00a0Anadol uses is called \u201cLarge Nature Model\u201d\u2014it\u2019s the world\u2019s first open source AI model based solely on nature data. \u201cWe believe that the Large Nature Model is a paradigm shift in how we can use AI to perceive our natural world,\u201d reads the\u00a0Dataland website. And that data is ethically sourced from institutions including the Smithsonian, Getty Conservation Institute and the Natural History Museum in London (you can actually browse the data yourself in the Latent Gallery). Beyond that, data is pulled from the Refik Anadol Studio\u2019s firsthand trips to 16 different rainforests. And fittingly, Anadol has worked with Google Cloud to operate the LNM using 87% carbon-free renewable energy and minimize its environmental footprint\u2014apparently each visitor\u2019s trip through the museum uses only as much energy as a single smartphone charge.<\/p>\n
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\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time OutThe Latent Gallery at Dataland
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The result of all this work is a truly multisensory experience\u2014Dataland is touted as the world\u2019s first \u201comni-sensory\u201d museum. The visuals are dazzling, yes, but there are touch-screen elements, projections that react to your movements, an ambient soundtrack throughout from composer Kerim Karao\u011flu, and\u00a0innovative scents. There\u2019s even (for priority ticket holders) a taste element: data.chocolate, a series of four truffles created by local chocolatier Valerie Gordon<\/a> especially for the museum, inspired by the cacao of the rainforest.<\/p>\n At the center of\u00a0Dataland is a question Anadol has long been exploring: \u201cFor 5,000 years, humans have been emotionally moved by artworks, but the relationship has always flowed in one direction. While developing\u00a0Dataland we asked ourselves, \u2018Is it possible for artworks to feel us back?\u2019\u201d That\u2019s where the biosensors come in. When you enter Dataland, after watching a short introductory video in the Discovery Portal, you scan your ticket\u2019s QR code at\u00a0a station, where a futuristic-looking box slides open and reveals your wearable tech. First, there\u2019s\u00a0a scent device, which you wear around your neck. It releases scents especially crafted by L\u2019Or\u00e9al Luxe to evoke the\u00a0essence of data, petrichor (the distinctive smell of the ground when it rains), flowers and more. The personalized scent molecules somehow don\u2019t fill the room you\u2019re in or linger on your person. The other piece of hardware you\u2019ll don is Empatica\u2019s EmbracePlus, an Apple Watch\u2013esque device that tracks your time spent in the museum, movements, heartbeat, skin temperature, emotion temperature and skin conductivity (i.e., what gives you goosebumps). The idea is that the museum responds in real time to visitors\u2019 biometrics and, over time, is shaped by the input, meaning you won\u2019t have the exact same experience here twice. (Note: Your captured data remains anonymous and is erased after 30 days.)<\/p>\n In all, the museum consists of five galleries and boasts a total of 1.5 billion pixels. Two of these rooms you\u2019ll likely be seeing all over social media. But however good they may look on a screen, the galleries\u2014especially the Data Pavilion and Anadol\u2019s Infinity Room\u2014are utterly transfixing in person. The Data Pavilion, with its \u201cLatent Forest\u201d display, is the museum\u2019s largest gallery and a showstopper\u2014traveling down the escalators into the room with mirrored walls, ceilings and columns, I broke into a huge grin. Inside, 84 hi-res projectors fill the room with visuals of data, rainstorms, flowers and trees in bloom, and abstract data pigments\u2014all taking cues from a live feed of rainforest data, as\u00a0does the soundscape\u2014for a result that\u2019s trippy, dizzying and relaxing all at once. Anadol recommends spending around\u00a035 minutes in the room. That might seem a little long, but if you find a spot to sit and steady yourself, it\u2019s a surprisingly meditative space\u2014I didn\u2019t want to leave.<\/p>\n After passing through the Latent Gallery\u2014with interactive stations that let you create your own art and access the vast data sets yourself\u2014you can make your way to the more intimate Infinity Room. All four walls, in addition to the ceiling and floor, are made of LED panels (hence why you\u2019re given shoe coverings on the way into the museum). The experience takes eight minutes and loosely tells\u00a0a story inspired by a trip to an Amazon rainforest Anadol took with his partner,\u00a0Dataland co-founder Efsun Erkili\u00e7, about\u00a0a hummingbird that\u2019s gone extinct. It\u2019s a completely different experience than the famed Infinity Room by Yayoi Kusama offers at the Broad<\/a> across the street. \u201cKusama\u2014huge respect and love to her\u00a0work\u2014she plays with the stillness of the infinity. In fact, [our] Infinity Room is completely a different direction that\u2019s completely in movement, in motion,\u201d says Anadol.<\/p>\n The final gallery is dubbed the Sanctuary, which you enter with a group of fellow museum-goers for a look at your collective \u201cemotional temperature,” which is then turned into a 30-foot-tall data painting, in the vein of Anadol\u2019s Intuit Dome and MoMA<\/a> works. At the close of your experience, you\u2019ll be treated to a song by the Yawanaw\u00e1 tribe and the lovely scent of the Amazonian moonflower, a rare specimen that only blooms for 12 hours a year. The team was able to record the scent molecules without harming the flower and bring it back to share with L.A. visitors.\u00a0On your way out, as you hand back your devices, you\u2019re given a data token that contains a \u201cpersonalized sensory archive.\u201d The idea is that the data on this can be turned into a T-shirt emblazoned with a custom artwork depicting your museum journey, as well as a customized scent, which a machine will mix up for you on the spot in the high-tech gift shop.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that while there is clearly tons of thought, research, knowledge and, yes, data behind everything you see at Dataland\u2026you might not exactly understand what you\u2019re looking at. You might just see dazzling visuals and enjoy the immersive nature of the experience\u2014and that\u2019s ok. I think the museum still has value on that level. But there is a lot going on here, even if the process\u00a0can seem a little opaque at times. After doing\u00a0a bit of research\u00a0following my visit, I feel like I have a\u00a0more comprehensive\u00a0idea of Dataland than I did while I was in the museum itself. But\u00a0a bit of a learning curve is to be expected, given how new the concept of a \u201cliving museum\u201d is for most people. I asked Anadol how important it is to him that people get what they\u2019re seeing in the moment, and he pointed me toward an app that visitors can\u00a0consult during their museum visit. \u201cWe have an special application that will be easy to download. [It] will allow\u00a0the audience to learn about their data in real time.\u2026 So there will be all these living conversations with the artworks and with the systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides the AI stigma, another potential\u00a0sticking point for some may be the ticket price.\u00a0Dataland isn\u2019t a nonprofit like its neighbors, the Broad or MOCA<\/a>, and as such, it\u2019s not free to visit. Tickets start at $49 on weekday mornings and go all the way up to $59 in the afternoons and $79 on weekends. Priority access tickets\u2014which include express entry, the data.chocolate tasting, a tote, lanyard and a discount on merch\u2014range from $89 to $129. Though, while I did attend the press preview and didn\u2019t have to buy a ticket, I found myself thinking I would have absolutely paid the price of admission for my experience. Price-wise, it\u2019s on par with the pop-up exhibition Hospital of Emotions<\/a> and even the recent Harry Potter drone show<\/a>. And\u00a0Dataland isn\u2019t a one-trick pony: After January 31, an entirely different exhibition will take over the space, presumably offering a new mind-bending experience. I, for one, can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n![\"Dataland\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781698450_245_image.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time OutThe Data Pavilion at Dataland
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\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time OutThe Infinity Room at Dataland
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\nPhotograph: Michael Juliano for Time OutThe Sanctuary at Dataland
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