ANICKA YI | TATE MODERN HYUNDAI COMMISSION
Installation view of Hyundai Commission: Anicka Yi at Tate Modern, October 2021. Photography by Will Burrard-Lucas / © Tate 2021.
HYUNDAI COMMISSION
ANICKA YI
IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD
October 12, 2021 - January 16, 2022Introduction
Both Tate and Anicka Yi Studio are committed to a climate-conscious future. This shared priority fostered conversations that resulted in Anicka Yi Studio and Tate wanting to gain greater insight into the climate impact of Yi’s Turbine Hall commission. The primary aims of this report were for both the Yi Studio and Tate to gain better insight into the climate impact; to be transparent about that impact, as well as what was learned with regards to successful strategies implemented, challenges faced, and areas for improvement found; and to support future transparency and experimentation within the sector.
Covid-19 began to cause lockdowns in the United States and United Kingdom in March 2020. As a result, we developed alternative ways of collaborating on the project remotely, allowing us to eliminate five international round-trip flights that would have otherwise been taken. The opening date was delayed by one year, which allowed additional time for climate-related conversations to develop among the project team. Without this delay, it is unlikely this climate case study would have had time to germinate.
Anicka Yi Studio
Anicka Yi is committed to advocating for climate-conscious practices as a member of Artists Commit, an artist-led collective committed to a climate-conscious, resilient, and equitable future. Yi supports a framework for climate action that addresses four core action areas: Cutting Emissions, Eliminating Waste, Supporting People and Collective Action.
In 2018, Yi supported the conservation of 262 hectares of old-growth cloud forest in the Northern Highlands of Guatemala with the nonprofit Art to Acres. Permanently conserving the land avoids the release of carbon emissions during deforestation while simultaneously supporting an ecosystem's biodiversity, watershed and the local community. This mountainous location is the watershed of thirteen villages and is home to critically endangered biodiversity, including 265 documented bird species. It is estimated that the conservation protected 86,085 tCO2e in belowground and aboveground carbon.
Tate
Tate declared a climate and ecological emergency in July 2019, recognising the unique role art and art museums can play in creating fundamental societal change. In 2020, Tate was awarded the Julie’s Bicycle Pioneer Award, which recognises exceptional innovation on sustainability. The institution is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2023 from the baseline year of 2007/8 and is working towards reducing emissions to net zero by 2030. To date, Tate has taken several actions and made publicly transparent commitments, and is working towards creating an Environmental Policy.
Production
Several of our project production collaborators have their own environmental policies or commitments, including Sitara Systems (aerobe behaviour and design development), Pozyx (real-time location system based on ultrawideband technology) and millimetre (Battery Pond fabricator).
Carbon Emissions
The commission’s carbon emissions were assessed according to the categories listed below using the Gallery Climate Coalition calculator in conjunction with The Networked Condition’s calculator for the commission’s livestream. In the measurement used, ‘tCO2e’, stands for ‘tonnes (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (e)’. ‘Carbon dioxide equivalent’ is a standard unit for counting greenhouse gas emissions regardless of whether they are from carbon dioxide or another gas, such as methane. These estimates are not comprehensive given all of the interdependencies involved; however, efforts have been made to be as accurate as possible in the spirit of transparency.
Additional areas where the project was not able to accurately assess carbon emissions at the time of publication include project-related travel by train or car, staff commutes, visitor travel, related events, the catalogue printing and distribution, and emissions related to the production of the artwork and related materials, among other areas.
Airfare: 47.13 tCO2e.
Forty round-trip international flights were taken to realise the Commission. Of these, seven were related to project development, twenty-six were directly related to artwork production and installation, and seven are projected for maintenance. Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, five planned international round trip flights were eliminated. Where possible, travel was undertaken by train, amounting to thirteen journeys.
Airfare emissions account for production, installation, and projected maintenance, but not de-installation.
Gallery Climate Coalition Carbon Calculation for Airfare emissions.
Artwork energy use: 1.13 tCO2e.
The commission’s technical team estimated that the maximum instantaneous wattage of all on site equipment related to the artwork, including computer servers, battery chargers, tracking hardware, desk lamps, and more, is 3.4kW, meaning that if every device drew full power every hour, the project would draw 81.6 kWh daily. In practice, the team estimated we would more likely draw less than forty per cent of the maximum based on expected normal-use draw, or around 32.6 kWh daily. For the expected duration of the commission, this would result in 4,097.4 kWh used, which is the basis for the artwork energy use calculation.
This does not account for energy used during the development of the project, nor for the energy consumption of offsite equipment during the duration of the commission.
For context, according to Tate’s 2019 Carbon Assessment, Tate uses an average of 45,838Kwh of electricity per day every day.
Tate is on a renewable tariff for its electricity consumption, which means that all of the electricity used on-site is matched by the energy supplier’s purchase of renewable energy.
Gallery Climate Coalition Carbon Calculation for artwork energy use.
Shipping emissions: 1.10+ tCO2e.
The aerobes were shipped from Germany to the United Kingdom in one consolidated shipment by truck.
The Battery Pond was transported from Brighton to London in fourteen segments on a curtain-side truck. Its fabric and corner pieces were transported from Brighton to London in two trips on a long wheelbase van.
Airfreight shipments included two computer servers, one that shipped from New York to London and one from New York to Germany. Combined, these two shipments account for 1 tCO2e of the shipping emissions.
This figure does not reflect all shipping-related emissions. There are limitations on the accuracy of the calculation methodology, as most airfreight shipments also include a road transfer portion, and the road freight calculation used does not account for vehicle type. There were many smaller parcels containing equipment and accessories that shipped directly from vendors to Tate that were not calculated. Outbound shipping cannot be calculated until after the close of the commission.
Gallery Climate Coalition Carbon Calculation for air freight emissions.
Gallery Climate Coalition Carbon Calculation for road freight emissions.
Livestream:
Livestreamed footage of the commission generates an average of 5,880 grams of carbon dioxide per viewer per hour. Emissions generated by the livestream cannot be calculated until after the close of the commission.
Waste Report
Materials used in the commission have been categorised using a material afterlife checklist.
Reuse
Items to be reused for the same purpose as the original use:
aerobes
computer servers
control system
The aerobes are made from polyurethane foil, polyurethane foam, water-based paint and polymer hair. They are equipped with electric brushless motors, high speed actuators and flight controllers. Reuse of these materials will require crating, shipping and storage.
Repurpose
Items to be kept, sold, or donated and used for a different purpose in the future:
furniture and accessories in the Battery Pond
cabling and other hardware accessories
All furniture and cabling used in the commission will either be donated or repurposed by Tate.
Storage
Items sent to storage, but without a clear plan for immediate reuse or repurpose:
aerobe prototypes
Battery Pond
Two initial aerobe prototypes were created that had a slightly different design. They cannot be reused for public display but may be beneficial for other uses like testing, so will be kept in storage. The Battery Pond structure has been built in plywood sections so that it can be disassembled, efficiently transported to a new location, and reconfigured as required. Its fabric cover is fitted for each section for ease of reuse. However, there is not a current plan for reuse.
Recycling and residual waste
Items which will be recycled or disposed of as residual:
damaged aerobe components
disposable gloves and masks
Aerobes are made out of polyurethane foil and polyurethane foam. Efforts will be made to recycle these wherever possible, however, recycling options are often limited to downcycling and may not be an option for all components. Personal protective gear which has not come into contact with flammable oils will be recycled through a personal protective equipment recycling service. Those which have come in contact with oils will be treated as residual waste.
Special waste disposal
Items requiring special disposal:
aerobe batteries
unused scented oils
The aerobes are powered by rechargeable lithium polymer batteries. These maintain their performance for roughly 300 charges, after which they will be disposed of at a local battery disposal point and replaced.
Any oils which go unused in the commission's changing scentscapes require hazardous waste disposal due to their flammability.
Consumable
Items ‘consumed’ during the commission:
approximately 53 litres of scented oils
helium
Scented oils are dispersed into the air.
Aerobes are filled with helium to stay buoyant. This is a non-renewable resource that will be released into the atmosphere and cannot be recaptured.
Supporting People
The project adopted the following practices to support the people working on it:
Prioritize working with vendors who support climate action. ✓
Encourage climate-minded thinking within the project team. ✓
Collective Action
The project supported collective action within the art sector in the following ways:
Share a climate case study at artistscommit.com. ✓
Share what was learned in the case study to audiences. ✓
Ask project partners and collaborators about their climate policies, commitments, or priorities. ✓
Exhibition Basic Info and Credits
Report Date: October 30, 2021
Exhibition Category: Solo Commission
Link to Project: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/hyundai-commission-anicka-yi
Exhibition Artist: Anicka Yi
Exhibition Title: In Love with the World
Presenting Partner: Tate Modern
Commissioner: Hyundai
Exhibition Address: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Exhibition Dates: October 12, 2021 - January 16, 2022
Curated by: Achim Borchardt-Hume, Director of Exhibitions and Programmes, Mark Godfrey, former Senior Curator and Carly Whitefield, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern
Production Management: Petra Schmidt, Production Manager, Commissions, Tate Modern
Production Consultation for Anicka Yi Studio: Laura Lupton, New York
Anicka Yi Studio: Riley Duncan, Remina Greenfield, Hana Tran, Saul Valaitis
Technical Lead: AKA Media System, New York
Aerobe Behaviour Design and Development: Sitara Systems, Las Vegas
Aerobes: Airstage, Riederich
Real-time location system based on UWB technology: Pozyx, Ghent
Technical crew: KitMapper, London
Battery Pond: millimetre, Brighton
Scent consultation: Dr Pamela Dalton, Philadelphia
Scents: Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, with additional scents provided by International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.
Production Assistance: Jessica Baxter and Lynn Rothwell, Exhibition Assistants; Gareth Fox, AV Technician, Tate Modern
CIR Prepared by: Laura Lupton, Artists Commit and Carly Whitefield, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern
CIR Reviewed by: Achim Borchardt-Hume, Director of Exhibitions and Programmes, Tate Modern, Remina Greenfield, Anicka Yi Studio, Haley Mellin, Art to Acres, and Heath Lowndes, Gallery Climate Coalition
