Buzz
Anicka Yi’s art is meant to be both seen and smelled. Recently featured in WIRED, the New York-based conceptual artist has created installations that incorporate odorous materials like olive oil, moss, black tea, dried shrimp, and even bacteria samples from her own social circle. Yi uses these scents to evoke memories and emotions. Her upcoming solo show at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, opening April 21, promises to be her most fragrant exhibition yet.
Cornerhouse via Flickr//CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Yi was honored with the 2016 Hugo Boss Prize, a prestigious contemporary art award from the Guggenheim, which includes a solo exhibition at the museum. Her upcoming show, titled “Anicka Yi, Life Is Cheap,” will feature works inspired by the scent of sweaty armpits, among other pieces. She collaborated with scientists to create scents based on the chemical compounds found in human sweat, which will accompany sculptures made from live bacteria.
Yi personally collects sweat and bacteria samples. Biologists nurture the bacteria by providing it with nutrients and maintaining ideal growth conditions. Once her 'living sculptures' are ready, Yi displays them in petri dish-inspired containers made from plexiglass and resin. For her piece 'Eau de Armpit,' a forensic scientist uses chromatography to deconstruct each sweat sample into its chemical components. Yi then works with a Paris-based perfumer to turn these compounds into distinct scents.
Yi's upcoming exhibition at the Guggenheim will include not only works evoking the smell of human sweat, but also pieces made from tempura-fried flowers and a 3D video titled The Flavor Genome. This video delves into recurring themes in Yi’s art, such as ‘scent, both natural and artificial, the bacterial, perishability, hybridization, mutation, and genetic modification, as well as the bureaucratization of the body,’ as described by Chris Sharpe for Cura magazine [PDF].
Remaining true to the sensory theme, Yi's works engage both sight and smell. 'The dominance of vision over other senses doesn't really make sense to me,' Yi says in a video produced by the Guggenheim Museum. 'I wasn't just critiquing it; I wanted to offer alternatives. I believe we can learn much more by engaging our other senses and nurturing them.'
Some of Yi's works are available to view below, but to fully experience their scents, you’ll need to visit the Guggenheim before the exhibition closes on July 5, 2017.
Anicka Yi2666, 2015 Bacteria, nutrient agar, Plexiglas, 24 x 20 x 4 inches Courtesy of 47 Canal, New York and Kunsthalle Basel Photo: Philipp Hänger
Anicka YiSister, 2011 Tempura-fried flowers, cotton turtleneck, approximately 41 x 19 x 7 inches Courtesy of 47 Canal, New York Photo: Joerg Lohse
Anicka Yi Installation view: 7,070,430K of Digital Spit, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, 2015 Courtesy of 47 Canal, New York, and Kunsthalle Basel, Basel Photo: Philipp Hänger
Anicka Yi
The Possibility of an Island III, 2012 Custom glass perfume bottle, saline water, colored contact lenses, vinyl tubing, air pump, 132.08 x 35.56 x 35.56 cm Courtesy of 47 Canal, New York. Photo: Joerg Lohse
Anicka Yi
View of the installation:
Jungle Stripe, 2016
Image courtesy of the artist, 47 Canal, New York, and Fridericianum, Kassel.
Photo: Fabian Frinzel
Anicka Yi
View of the installation:
Jungle Stripe, Fridericianum, Kassel
, 2016
Image courtesy of the artist, 47 Canal, New York, and Fridericianum, Kassel.
Photo: Fabian Frinzel
Anicka Yi
View of the installation:
Jungle Stripe, Fridericianum, Kassel
, 2016
Courtesy of the artist, 47 Canal, New York, and Fridericianum, Kassel.
Photo: Fabian Frinzel
Anicka Yi
Search Image
, 2016
Taxidermy animal, silicone, hardware, 89.99 x 59.99 x 89.99 cm
Courtesy of the artist, 47 Canal, New York, and Fridericianum, Kassel.
Photo: Fabian Frinzel
Anicka YiThe Flavor Genome, 2016 Single-channel 3D video Courtesy of the artist and 47 Canal, New York
Anicka YiThe Flavor Genome, 2016 Single-channel 3D video Courtesy of the artist and 47 Canal, New York
