Anicka Yi opens outdoor installation Message from the Mud at Storm King

In short: Storm King Art Center in New York is now showing Anicka Yi’s new outdoor installation, Message from the Mud, on view May 17 to Nov. 9, 2026.

What happened

Anicka Yi has unveiled Message from the Mud at Storm King Art Center. It is her first large project made specifically for an outdoor setting.

The installation is arranged to look like an archaeological dig (a careful search in the ground for traces of the past). Visitors see mounds of raw earth around a central pool, and clear acrylic columns rising up from the water.

Inside each column is a mix of soil, water, and organic material taken from Storm King’s South Ponds. These are called Winogradsky columns, which are like mini ecosystems in a tube, where tiny living things sort themselves into layers over time. As sunlight and time affect the material, the columns develop communities of algae, cyanobacteria, and other microorganisms, and the layers create vivid colors that can be seen through the clear sides.

Why it matters

Yi’s work often focuses on life that is easy to miss, like microorganisms, and on how humans relate to nature and technology. At Storm King, she brings that focus into the landscape itself, using the site’s own mud and pond material as both subject and structure. In simple terms, the piece asks people to look closely at the small forms of life that help shape the world, even when we cannot see them.

Source: NYTimes