Anicka Yi

In an exploration of artistic legacy and posthumous creation, Laser Days collaborated with renowned artist Anicka Yi to develop "Each Branch of Coral Holds Up the Light of the Moon," a film that premiered at Yi's first solo exhibition in Asia at the LEEUM Museum of Art in Seoul.

The project began with Yi's interest in how an artist's practice might continue beyond their physical presence. To explore this concept, Laser Days merged their expertise in building custom systems for real-time game engines and generative AI workflows with Yi's distinctive artistic vision and archive.

The development of the piece's aesthetic was largely experimental, driven by discovery rather than predetermined design. Access to Yi's extensive studio archive became a crucial dataset for training and fine-tuning the AI systems. This combination of historical documentation and machine learning allowed us to create something entirely new while remaining rooted in Yi's artistic legacy. Working with AI-generated material in the context of an existing artistic archive provided a unique opportunity to bridge past and future – creating something entirely new while building upon an established body of work.

The film debuted as a room-sized projection at the LEEUM Museum in September 2024, as part of Yi's exhibition "There Exists Another Evolution, But In This One." The piece will continue its journey with an upcoming presentation at the UCCA Museum in Beijing in March 2025.