Anicka Yi’s recent TED talk is a breath of fresh air in the contemporary art scene. The TED talk, which is just 10 minutes long, comes on the heels of her exhibition “Metaspore” at Italy’s Pierelli HangarBicocca, a sprawling look at the artist’s interdisciplinary practice involving bacterial ecosystems and other microbial matter.
Yi invites us to look and realize how a helium-filled balloon, gently propelled by rotors, floating over the stage next to her can change our perception of new and advanced technologies where we look through the lens of creativity. Yi worked with a team to create machines inspired by natural forms like the comb jellyfish and the lion’s mane mushroom. They investigated the field of soft robotics to imbue the aerobes with artificial life simulation, software that allows the machines to respond autonomously to their environment and to evolve their personalities based on experiential factors.
Technologies have changed every bit of our lives and with blockchain technology ushering in a new interest in NFTs, using mainstream technologies such as robotics, sensors, and machine learning, Yi brings a whole new level to conceptual art.
“When you look at these aerobes, it gives you the feeling almost opposite to the uncanny valley,” Yi said, referring to the phenomenon in which people experience emotions of fear and even revulsion when confronted by humanoid robots.
“You know that they’re mechanical, yet they feel palpably alive. You feel like you might be next to some majestic and remote life-form.” She compares the experience to swimming alongside a humpback whale: “Their size is imposing … yet they inspire an emotion closer to awe than to fear.”
The South Korean-born conceptual artist asks us to think about the future of machine learning and advanced technologies. Being an artist she is perfectly placed to showcase, visually a new perspective that the genuine enthusiast might be overlooking.
“Machines don’t necessarily have to serve us or scare us in order to coexist with us,” she said. “I sincerely hope that you’ll consider that machines can be so much more than what we’ve known, and how they might embody a wisdom drawn from biology.”