On view for the first time at WCMA, this installation by Anicka Yi (American, b. South Korea, 1971) immerses visitors in a sensorial experience. At its center, a large, illuminated dish contains hair gel with hundreds of cosmetic contact lenses pinned into its undulating surface, as a mentholated scent pervades the room.

In her distinctive use of unconventional and often ephemeral materials, Yi’s work reorders the cultural forces that privilege containment over leakage, clarity over ambiguity, and ocularity above all other senses.

Our Love Is Bigger Than an AIDS Quilt was a museum purchase, selected by the students in the Fall 2017 course “Acquiring Art: Selecting and Purchasing Objects for WCMA,” and made possible by the Fulkerson Fund for Leadership in the Arts. It was first shown at the MIT List Visual Arts Center as part of the exhibition 6,070,430K of Digital Spit.