In the art world, epics are necessarily parasitic. Like H. R. Giger’s xenomorphs in the Alien franchise, they assume the attributes of their host. Since 2015, A.K. Burns has been producing a cycle of video installations on ecological fragility called Negative Space, each concerned with a distinct physical system and supported by different institutions. A Smeary Spot (NS 0), 2015, which premiered at Participant Inc. in New York, evokes “the void” by juxtaposing scenes of genderqueer performers, identified in the credits as “Ob-surveyors” and “Free Radicals,” exploring the Utah desert with saxophone