0:00:41.483,0:00:44.720
-[Anicka VO] Humans have[br]a fear of impermanence.

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We go against nature to try[br]to preserve and stabilize and

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control something that[br]resists all of that.

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In around 2010, I started[br]deep-frying flowers and plants.

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This very clunky batter

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is almost masking and[br]destroying the flower itself,

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and then you subject them[br]to 300-degree hot oil.

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♪♪♪

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The visual aspects of it was[br]definitely something that I was

0:01:24.920,0:01:28.761
aiming for, but the odor of,[br]like, french fries [laughs]

0:01:28.761,0:01:33.430
of an artwork or something, that[br]was very much compelling me to,

0:01:33.430,0:01:36.359
you know, fry up[br]a batch of these.

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♪pensive synth music♪

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There's always been an[br]incredible vulnerable aspect to

0:01:47.579,0:01:48.899
my work.

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Many of my works use this[br]element of deterioration and

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perishable materials.

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♪♪♪

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I'm interested in the kind of[br]mutations that can take place in

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these changes.

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I work with living creatures,

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ultrasound gel,

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bacteria,

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algae,

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kelp,

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and soap.

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-[Anicka] Looks so good.

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Oh my gosh, I[br]forgot all about this.

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Wow, it's like seeing the[br]piece for the first time again.

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It's really good.

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There is such a sensual[br]quality to this soap.

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The thing that really keeps[br]haunting me is this glowing,

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floating[br]underwater kind of quality.

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And it's really[br]hard to do, you know?

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-Because resin doesn't do it...

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-[Esther] Right.

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-[Anicka] Acrylic[br]doesn't do it...

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-[Esther] Right.

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-And as problematic[br]and volatile as it is,

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I'm trying to retain[br]and capture that quality.

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I can tell you what[br]to anticipate is that,

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because glycerin is a humectant,[br]it will just over time slowly

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shrink a little.

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-[Esther] And so that's okay?

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-If you get dents[br]and cuts and gashes,

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that's fine; it's not intended[br]to be pristine and perfect.

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♪ethereal[br]oscillating synths♪

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-[Anicka VO] I'm quite[br]omnivorous in the areas and

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disciplines where I draw from.

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Before it's even a[br]fully-fleshed idea,

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I start small[br]trials in the studio,

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much like you would[br]do in a laboratory.

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As the trials[br]start to bear fruit,

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we bring in the[br]experts to help us,

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whether it's a software[br]engineer or a forensic chemist

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or a perfumer.

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I look to the natural[br]sciences, synthetic sciences,

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artificial[br]intelligence research.

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That seems like a very[br]maximalist approach,

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but I think that we can't really[br]discount how we are influenced

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by all of these[br]different systems and ideas

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and information.

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-[Anicka] I just want to[br]climb up on these hills...

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-[man] [chuckles]

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-[Anicka] And just[br]enter into the screen,

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-and go into the drawing.

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-[man] Yeah.

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-How can I translate that[br]then into the outer world --

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that feeling of wanting[br]to climb up these hills?

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'Cause that's what these[br]anemone panels do for me.

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-Yeah.

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-You know, that[br]rolling, undulating feeling.

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-Yeah.

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-But then, when we were talking[br]about more of a kind of a...

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Maybe-- I don't know, maybe we[br]need to think about something

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more immersive.

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♪upbeat bouncing synths♪

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-[Anicka VO] We have a very[br]limited imagination when it

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comes to machines.

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We have a lot of anxiety[br]that they will replace us.

0:05:32.931,0:05:38.071
But what if we could relate to[br]them in a more optimistic way?

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♪♪♪

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I really wanted to[br]merge the biosphere

0:05:47.719,0:05:50.009
with the technosphere.

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I consulted software[br]engineers, molecular biologists

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to create what I[br]called "aerobes."

0:06:01.090,0:06:05.171
I was inspired by[br]the comb jellyfish,

0:06:06.273,0:06:08.687
the lion's mane mushroom...

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The machines respond[br]and detect one another

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through high[br]frequency radio waves.

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And they're able to detect[br]heat signatures of visitors.

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Some aerobes are[br]curious about the visitors,

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while some are more shy.

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It was really important for me[br]that they were unpredictable,

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and that they had space and[br]time for their own evolution.

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You know that[br]they're mechanical,

0:06:50.321,0:06:53.789
and yet they feel[br]palpably alive.

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♪uplifting ethereal music♪

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It inspires a[br]feeling of awe and calm,

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like you're swimming[br]next to a humpback whale.

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I'm always surprised how[br]much power that they had

0:07:11.980,0:07:15.498
to quell a lot of anxiety.

0:07:16.099,0:07:19.629
With these aerobes,[br]I, too, get to inhabit

0:07:19.629,0:07:22.038
this space of wonder.

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-[woman VO] Another kind of[br]trace is formidably encapsulated

0:07:31.009,0:07:33.516
by the French word "sillage."

0:07:35.919,0:07:39.440
It means "the degree to which a[br]perfume's fragrance lingers in

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the air when worn."

0:07:42.660,0:07:46.639
So in a way, an organism's[br]sillage is a living presence

0:07:46.639,0:07:50.968
sensed even in the[br]absence of a body or an author.

0:07:53.799,0:07:54.299
-Oh, yeah.

0:07:55.120,0:07:56.659
This is the bullfrog.

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-[woman] [laughs]

0:08:00.132,0:08:01.700
-That is very animal.

0:08:01.700,0:08:05.000
-It's like boggy, frog...

0:08:05.000,0:08:05.500
-Mm-hm.

0:08:05.500,0:08:06.530
-Swampy.

0:08:06.730,0:08:08.240
-[woman] Very swampy.

0:08:10.864,0:08:15.561
-One of the earliest forms[br]of inquiries in my research

0:08:15.561,0:08:19.930
is how we relate to smell, how[br]it informs what I would call

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"the biopolitics of our senses."

0:08:26.020,0:08:29.210
I grew up in a[br]very pungent home,

0:08:29.210,0:08:35.390
and was very keenly and acutely[br]aware of how smell does start to

0:08:35.390,0:08:38.594
create these forms of identity[br]around these

0:08:38.594,0:08:41.440
invisible scent molecules.

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♪ethereal piano music♪

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In the Western world, we really[br]tend to reject very pungent

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odors as a[br]sign of weakness,

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as a sign of[br]being more animal.

0:08:58.772,0:09:04.040
We have left those odors behind[br]us to a perfectly-sanitized

0:09:04.040,0:09:08.740
world where we control what we[br]can smell and what we can't,

0:09:08.740,0:09:13.571
and that is an impossible[br]approach to existence.

0:09:16.415,0:09:20.810
I had an exhibition in Milan,[br]and I worked with a French

0:09:20.810,0:09:24.460
artist and perfumer,[br]Christophe Laudamiel.

0:09:25.481,0:09:30.810
One of the central[br]series are two dryer doors

0:09:30.810,0:09:33.106
with two different scents.

0:09:35.890,0:09:41.098
One dryer door had[br]a bullfrog aroma.

0:09:42.480,0:09:46.480
The other[br]contained this broomstick,

0:09:46.480,0:09:51.167
sort of cardboard[br]sweeping-away aroma

0:09:51.190,0:09:54.649
after everything has been[br]packed up in your home,

0:09:54.649,0:09:58.320
getting ready to[br]evacuate a space that holds

0:09:58.320,0:10:00.191
a lot of memories

0:10:00.191,0:10:04.570
of love and[br]sadness and despair.

0:10:05.431,0:10:11.369
It really is about memory, but[br]also forgetting and letting go.

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♪bittersweet string music♪

0:10:17.770,0:10:21.050
I always straddle this[br]awkward line between

0:10:21.050,0:10:24.457
perishability and[br]non-perishability.

0:10:26.019,0:10:31.180
We look to art as a[br]form of preservation,

0:10:31.180,0:10:33.779
as a statement on[br]our civilization,

0:10:33.779,0:10:35.870
on our species.

0:10:38.273,0:10:42.410
And yet, you can't have[br]monumentality without

0:10:42.410,0:10:45.260
recognizing the[br]embedded vulnerability around

0:10:45.260,0:10:46.618
monumentality.

0:10:48.140,0:10:51.019
My work deals a lot with[br]what it means that things are

0:10:51.019,0:10:55.228
perpetually[br]blossoming and decaying.

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Change is the most constant[br]form that we can acknowledge

0:11:01.940,0:11:02.980
and embrace.

0:11:11.251,0:11:18.718
♪ ethereal ambient music ♪