Hyundai: Anicka Yi at Tate Modern

Creative agency House of Greenland is bringing the Hyundai Commission's latest Tate Modern Turbine Hall installation to life, with a beautifully crafted video series which is as much a piece of art as the exhibition itself. South Korean artist Anicka Yi's new installation, 'In Love With The World', was the Commission's first exhibition since the pandemic. The annual event gives artists an opportunity to create new work in partnership with the Hyundai Art Lab and the Tate. Yi’s ambitious art piece includes “Aerobes”, jellyfish-like creatures, floating serenely through the hall and responding to different elements in their environment. House of Greenland produced an innovative creative treatment that includes a four minute film and three social media videos, showcasing the relationship between art and viewer while capturing the visceral emotions the installation triggers. The film features the voice of the artist creating an other-worldly environment as she describes the inspiration behind her creations conjured from her imagination, how they behave and what they represent. The footage of the serene travels of the “Xenojellies'' as they navigate the vast expanse of the exhibition space is interlaced with human reactions to them. The content is designed to cut through the digital fatigue we have all been feeling as a result of the pandemic, and compounded by the surfeit of cultural content online. House of Greenland also needed to take into account that fewer people would be engaging with the exhibition in person so the films serve as the lens through which an audience can engage. In short, they attempt to do what the Turbine Hall does - bring art to the masses. The films, led by House of Greenland Creatives Ellis King, Max Gibson, and Creative Director Tim Noble, and directed by agency co-founder Agathe Cury, capture the unique themes of Anicka Yi’s work; the merging of technology and biology, challenging how we perceive animals and machines through all our senses. Visitors to ‘In Love With The World’ experience a “scent-scape” that changes weekly in the Turbine Hall. House of Greenland’s production team led by Sagal Aden-Buxton had to think of alternative ways of engaging the senses online. So rather than attempting to do the impossible by capturing scent on film, House of Greenland decided to look at capturing the feel of the art via other senses. The agency collaborated with Bafta winner and Academy Award nominee composer Jered Sorkin to create a bespoke soundscape to accompany Anicka Yi’s vision. The resulting soaring score captures the mystery and ethereal quality of Anicka Yi’s gentle, alien-like creations, creating a sense of awe while providing an altogether different sensory experience for online viewers. The team also had the challenge of filming the unpredictable movement of the aerobes, controlled via AI and other factors such as temperature, as they react to their environment. Editing therefore was key to creating a tight narrative structure to convey the artist’s themes and ideas. Alongside the centerpiece art film, which will be housed on Hyundai’s global website, House of Greenland produced three social films. One features interviews with Tate Modern staff involved in staging the exhibition; another explores the installation from the viewpoint of a Gen Z visitor. The interviews with members of the gallery team examine their relationship with their aerobian tenants, saying how it is “really hard not to anthropomorphise them”, suggesting the artist has been successful in blurring the line between machine and biology. Meanwhile the film, shot from the point of view of the Gen Z art enthusiast, describes how the exhibition makes them feel like they are “underwater” as well as how “tranquil” and “hypnotic” is the effect of the aerobes as they gently move around. These descriptions of visceral, physical reactions to the art attempt to transport the viewers in person to the Turbine Hall. The films are designed to appeal to a Millennial and Gen Z audience, digital natives and those interested in art, music and technology, as well as those who value new ideas, community and imagination. The films also raise awareness of Hyundai Motor’s partnership with Tate Modern and Hyundai Motor’s global art initiatives more broadly.