Hyundai Commission "Anicka Yi: In Love With the World" Tate Modern 2021. Photo ©Tate (Ben Fisher Photography).



It’s about time that we’ve seen some artificial intelligence on display for art purposes. As one of the premiere urban spaces on the globe, Turbine Hall opened doors in 2000. Outstanding artists from all around showcase their work at Turbine Hall for thousands to see at a time. However, Anicka Yi is taking a mind-blowing approach to Turbine Hall as she showcases what she does best: Using scent and air. Let’s take a look at her recently announced exhibit, In Love with the World, which looks something like a robotic alien invasion.


Anicka Yi is a conceptual artist who’s made an iconic mark among science, fragrance, and cuisine. As dominant as visuals are in the world of art, Yi incorporates smell into her work. Some of her selected works include You Can Call Me Fat The Kitchen (2015) and The Flavor Genome (2017). Not to mention, she won the 2016 Hugo Boss Prize, which recognized the power of body and singularity of the experimental portfolio of her work.


Image via Guggenheim Museum

Anicka Yi: Hugo Boss Prize 2016 Winner

One of her prized solo exhibitions: Life is Cheap, was ambitious enough. Bacteria were cultivated in separate rooms, ant colonies, custom scents and temperatures were produced to stimulate all the senses of visitors.


Anicka Yi used stunning visuals for this exhibit, such as powder-coated stainless steel, LED lights, and digital clocks. She combined bacteria and refrigeration with these visuals along with much more to create a perception of our sensory. Intersecting ideas of science, politics and human feelings like anxiety bring Life is Cheap to life. But now, she’s broken ground with a whole new level of ambition at Turbine Hall.


Image via The Straits Times
Invasion of the aroma machines at London exhibition




In Love with the World is the latest installment by Anicka Yi. It’ll leave you wondering about the barrage of balloons over your head. These helium-filled balloons have robotic arms that swim gracefully above as they float on. The floating drones detect human temperature and interact with the warmth that we produce. As you visit, the robotic machines, which are called “aeronomes” each have unique aromas that they dispense. The aeronomes populate the space around In Love with the World and create an ecosystem.


In Love With the World by Anicka Yi in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images



The potential and mysterious nature of these aeronomes give excitement for the future. Could the scents change over time with different interactions? Or could the floating machines assemble in an organized fashion? They are human-engineered after all. But the robotics are meant to respond to humans just like we react to them. The truth is, we have no idea what’s in store for the behavior of her artificial intelligence.


Installation view of Hyundai Commission “Anicka Yi: In Love With the World” at Tate Modern, October 2021. Photo by Will Burrard Lucas.



So what’s the meaning of this scientific ecosystem stimulating all of our senses in the process. Anicka Yi’s art philosophy is based around removing the barriers that we build between ourselves and nature. It’s about the way that we make distinctions between humans, animals, and plants. A trip to In Love with the World leaves visitors with questions about ourselves along with the system that we live in. It’s a blend of science, technology and biology that work seamlessly together.



Installation view of the Hyundai Commission: Anicka Yi: In Love With The World at Tate Modern, London.Photo: Will Burrard-Lucas



The captivating exhibit In Love with the World opened on October 12, 2021, and will run through January 16, 2022. Hyundai Motor and Tate Modern announced the opening as partners for Yi’s latest installment. It’s Anicka Yi’s biggest and most ambitious project yet. Her use of scent and air inspires new ideas about our own impact on the ecosystem as humans. How will you perceive the ample space flooded with robotic aeronomes that float? The ever changing behavior of Yi’s aeronomes is sure to make some more headlines heading into the following year.