Anicka Yi’s work in New Humans at the New Museum brought with it one of my few curatorial regrets. Seven years ago, I had organized an exhibition with Anicka at the Aspen Art Museum that I was particularly excited about, centered on her scent works. At the time we talked a lot about how, whether, and potentially when AI would be able to smell. I have in some ways been haunted by those conversations ever since. Anicka has long been interested in forms of intelligence that exist beyond what we can easily see, categorize, or control. Her work consistently expands our understanding of perception, communication, and consciousness itself. The exhibition didn’t happen as I left the museum before it opened.

Those questions sit at the center of New Humans, an exhibition that brings together historical and contemporary artists to consider how technology continues to reshape what it means to be human.

The exhibition asks timely questions. How do we maintain wonder in an increasingly mediated world? How do we remain connected to one another, to nature, and to ourselves? And as technologies like artificial intelligence evolve at extraordinary speed, can art still help us navigate uncertainty, complexity, and change?

The works invite us to think beyond efficiency and optimization toward interconnection, curiosity, and awareness. The most important questions are human, and I hope what that means does not evolve anytime soon.

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