Embracing uncertainties in art

Installation view of Anicka Yi's "There Exists Another Evolution, But In This One" at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, featuring "Kelp Pods" and "Radiolaria" series / Courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art

To step into Anicka Yi's latest exhibition, "There Exists Another Evolution, But In This One," at the Leeum Museum of Art, visitors first pull aside a thick black curtain and are immediately hit with an unfamiliar scent. This isn't just any fragrance — it is part of Yi's multisensory artwork "Walking on Two Paths at Once."

From the very first breath, Yi invites viewers to consider the politics of smell — a recurring theme in her work. She challenges the notion that authority is linked to sterility, reminding us that power often lacks odor while certain scents are historically tied to marginalized groups.

The fragrance, created in collaboration with French perfumer Barnabe Fillion, is designed to evoke the mysterious depths of the sea or the vastness of outer space. Made from ingredients such as seaweed, it provides a sensory awakening that prepares visitors for the exhibition's deeper exploration of the connections between biology and power.

"Scent has maybe been a precursor to art … Scent is described as mysterious, inscrutable because it's invisible. You can't see the molecules," she said Tuesday during a press preview of the exhibition.

For Yi, smell was one of humanity's earliest senses, essential for survival. Despite its invisibility and often being regarded as less significant and feminine compared to other senses, Yi challenges this notion.

"People seem to be uncomfortable with smell," she said, "which I'd like to shift that relationship."

Anicka Yi's biofouled sculpture series using her signature tempura-fried flowers is on display at her exhibition "There Exists Another Evolution, But In This One" at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul. Yonhap

Known for installations that meld biology, technology and sensory experiences, the Korean American artist consistently pushed artistic boundaries through her experiments with living organisms and ephemeral materials. The exhibition features 33 of Yi's works, both old and new, highlighting the overarching themes of her career and the future directions she aims to explore.

One of Yi's most recognizable pieces is her "tempura-fried flowers," perfectly exemplifying her use of transitory materials. These delicate flowers are fried and then preserved with resin, highlighting the passage of time as their colors slowly fade and they begin to emit an odor.

For Yi, using organic materials underscores a larger concept — she is not the sole creator of her works. The flowers, bacteria and microorganisms she uses are her collaborators, constantly altering the form and texture of the art as time passes. This concept of shared authorship is key to understanding Yi's broader philosophy of interconnection and interdependence.

Her "Kelp Pods" and "Radiolaria" series further blur the lines between living organisms and machines. Inspired by ancient planktonic life forms, the "Radiolaria" series combines organic, fluid shapes with moving mechanical components such as lights and fiber optics, while "Kelp Pods" series features mechanical moths encased within cocoon-like shells crafted from kelp.

Korean American artist Anicka Yi is pictured during a press conference for her exhibition "There Exists Another Evolution, But In This One" at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

"Another You" is a new piece centered on genetically engineered bacteria that Yi developed in collaboration with microbiology researchers from Ewha Womans University and Columbia University. The bacteria, programmed to express fluorescent proteins in different colors, represent a continuation of the artist's investigation into the relationships between human and non-human life forms.

Over the course of the exhibition, the bacterial installation will evolve, change shape and develop new patterns in ways that the artist cannot fully predict or control, symbolizing the ongoing collaboration between the artist and her living materials.

Yi acknowledges the importance of control in her artistic practice, but also recognizes its fluidity.

"I think there are aspects of control that we have to strive for, at least initially," she said. "Anyone who's ever tried to make an artwork knows that the idea you have, which is an abstract idea, and how that translates into physical objects ... can vary from similar to nothing that resembles the initial idea at all."

The artist embraces this unpredictability, especially when working with living materials like bacteria. In her view, it's important to create a structured framework while allowing space for chaos.

"We actually work very rigorously to try to establish a very robust framework because we know we're going to invite a lot of chaos and a lack of control," she said.

This framework provides a necessary balance, allowing her to maintain certain physical aspects of the work while knowing that her "more than human collaborators," such as microorganisms, will have their own agenda. "They're not necessarily interested in performing for me."

Anicka Yi's "Each Branch of Coral Holds Up the Light of the Moon" is on display at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul. Courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art

Yi's recent works take this fusion even further, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into her creative process.

Her latest series of paintings, "Quantum Foam Paintings," is developed with the help of AI trained on her studio's past works. These pieces, with their glowing, undulating surfaces, appear to radiate light from within, evoking organic textures and a sense of spaciousness.

Her new video work, "Each Branch of Coral Holds Up the Light of the Moon," delves into the concept of emptiness, exploring the continuation of art beyond the artist's biological existence. Set in a meditative, spiritual atmosphere, the piece raises provocative questions about whether Yi's artistic legacy can persist through technology after her passing. At the core of this work is her studio's "digital twin" software — an algorithm trained on her previous artworks.

Yi's pursuit of teaching AI creativity is not a departure from her previous work but an expansion of it.

"I'm interested in trying to teach AI about creativity and what better way to do that than to start with my own creative practice and my own creative DNA?"

This initiative is part of a broader vision where Yi sees the role of artists as crucial in steering the discourse around creativity, algorithms and AI. "This is something that I think artists should be really driving," she said.

The exhibition runs through Dec. 29.