Anicka Yi's Microbial Columns Debut at Storm King
Anicka Yi's 'Message From the Mud' opened May 17 at Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, N.Y. The installation features 19 acrylic columns, each six feet tall, filled with pond scum, algae, and bacteria that metabolize carbon dioxide. The columns were incubated under UV grow lamps since August 2024. The work is Yi's largest outdoor project to date, born in Seoul and based in New York. The installation includes a kidney-shaped gravel pit that will become a pond, echoing the columns' contents and a nearby lake that provided starter bacteria. Storm King, founded in 1960, is known for sculptures by Mark di Suvero and Maya Lin. Yi's piece combines artificial materials with living organisms from the surrounding soil.
Key facts
- Anicka Yi's 'Message From the Mud' opened May 17 at Storm King Art Center.
- The installation includes 19 acrylic columns, each six feet tall, filled with pond scum, algae, and bacteria.
- The columns were incubated under UV grow lamps since August 2024.
- This is Yi's largest outdoor project to date.
- Yi is 54 years old, born in Seoul, and based in New York.
- The installation includes a kidney-shaped gravel pit that will become a pond.
- Storm King Art Center was founded in 1960.
- Storm King is known for sculptures by Mark di Suvero and Maya Lin.
Entities
Artists
- Anicka Yi
- Mark di Suvero
- Maya Lin
- Liz Glynn
- Saif Azzuz
Institutions
- Storm King Art Center
- Artists Rights Society (ARS)
- Whitney family mansion
Locations
- New Windsor
- New York
- Brooklyn
- Seoul
- Hudson Valley
- Houston
- Beijing
- Storm King Art Center
- United States