All right so well good morning good good
Tuesday morning it's so nice to see both
of you here so we are you know obviously
working within a virtual reality for
right now during this COVID -19 so I
just wanted to say thank you to both of
you for taking time out of your schedule
to be with us this morning and and to
share your practice and your
professional insight into contemporary
art so so I'm gonna introduce Shannon
but before I do so I also just want to
thank all of Atlanta Contemporaries
generous sponsors that are supporting us
during this unprecedented time we've
been very fortunate to have donors and
members support us and we are grateful
to them and to their contributions so
thank you very much so I'm going to read
Shannon's bio as well as I can so
Shannon Morris is an arts Administrator
Curator and Educator currently she
serves as Gallery Director of the Mary S. Bryd Gallery at Augusta University in
2018 her proposal for presenting the
work of Bojana Ginn received an
Ellsworth Kelly award presented by the
foundation for Contemporary Arts and the
Ellsworth Kelly foundation today Shannon
will be facilitating a discussion with
Bojana Ginn whose work Every line is
sentient, every dot is alive is installed
within the Chute space at Atlanta
Contemporary so Shannon thank you very
much Thank You Veronica and thank you
for having me to do this I wanted to
start with sort of an introduction that
allowed Bojana to help guide me through
Bojana you were born and what is the
former Yugoslavia you're Serbian and I
want to begin by highlighting the fact
that prior to your pursuing an artistic
career you earned an MD from the
University of Belgrade
and 2001 a year later after following
your heart you were married living in
Atlanta and working in the Biology
Department at Emory University and you
began to create art eventually you would
choose to leave science and pursue art
full-time can you talk about why you
made this choice and what led you to do
it yeah well first of all hello to
everybody thank you so much for doing
this
I wish there are different circumstances
but I think it's wonderful that we have
this alternative now or we can stay in
touch yes I you know since I was a child
I had these different passions and art
was always one of them of one of those
but I was never really encouraged to
pursue artistic career I grew up never
knowing what actually means to be
professional artists so when I moved to
Belgrade and during my studies in
medicine I just really start there's a
puppet a little messages so I I start
missing art and creativity and I was
always doing paintings and drawings as
and then through the years this like a
hunger became almost I just missed the
creativity very much and I knew that
hours of the past that probably will not
be something that I would be very happy
with I mean there were some things in
medicine that I really loved like couple
of like neurology histology but for the
most part I was just missing something
expressive and when I moved to States it
was just the time to start from the
beginning is like uh you know the fresh
start opportunity and I just knew that
I should go into art
I wasn't sure immediately what kinda
arts would be a painting or design or
but anything creative and the path kind
of led to led me to go to Savannah
College of Art and Design where I
finished my Master's in sculpture come
true.
Sounds lovely so Bojana there are three
things that I find really intriguing
about your work and that they all three
sort of relate to your the way that you
create and the significance of your work
one being the material that you use
which relates also to your your growing
up as a child and seeing your Aunt's
work with the wool of the sheath the
method that you use to create and the
movement that's in your work that we can
which we can see right now in the video
sometimes it's an actual literal
movement and sometimes that movement
else often creates texture so picking
those like one by one do you want to
start with the material and the
significance of materials in your work
yes yeah I would love to talk a little
bit about what I love about its ancient
material we start using this material
like ten thousand years ago around ten
thousand years ago it was when sheep was
domesticated but it will actually did
not look the way it looks today the the
animal was like this hairy animal and
then people used selective breeding to
create the species it has the wool as we
know today so even in this like ancient
times the material is bio-engineered it's
man-made
we know that sheep is the first animal to
be cloned which is something that I've
kind of really
like that stands there you know and so
this connection to bio-engineering
something that it's very interesting to
me and it's something that later through
technology I like to play with in my
work it's also ancestral material right
and almost every culture in the world
the world is it's a feminine material
women worked with it for thousands of
years it is protected it is warm it
protects us from elements you know we
use it to shelter our bodies to shelter
our homes it's a kind of healing
material even spiritual for me I use it
kind of to to counterpart these fast
technologies that we have today I knew
that I on one hand I wanted to follow
something that says I live in 21st
century some kind of tool that is you
know significant for our time at the
same time I wanted to keep the
connection with the hand and so using
this material really helps me with that
because the process is slow it's tactile it's
haptic and it kind of seduces even the
video into a mode that it's much more
slow it's almost like the material
demands that and when you mention the
process usually it's used kind of as a
felt thread I use it a little bit in a
different way I like to stretch the
fibers of the material and expose it as
tissue as because it's a it's a
biomaterial and you can see the hair and
tangles kind of its naked eye it's laid
out in a very ephemeral and a fragile
way
these are all things that appeal to me
as a sculptor but also somebody coming
from the scientific background to to use
it as as a tissue and not as a thread or
felt so that would be I think all of
those elements are something that
attracts me to this material and the
method you've really already spoken to a
bit but I think another thing that
people might be interested in is your
method for creating an installation it
there's a specific process that you go
through and laying out the installation
and creating it
do you would you like to address that I
think it's interesting. Sure
I think the process for me I always
started something familiar something
that I know something that I like a
conclusion from a previous work and then
I I kind of manipulate elements in video
or sometimes in paper and and there's
the moment when I kind of get lost
a little bit because in my work there's
always this balance between a concept
and intuition so there's a little bit of
this conceptual background and steps but
then I leave the place for just the play
and so through through this little
experimentation and play I feel like
kind of I come back to the original idea
and what comes first is always either
video either the shape and the
engineered drawing of lights and that is
something that I lay out first it's very
important the architecture of space and
every installation that I've did well in
the last maybe 10 years was designed for
specific space
and so architecture play a very big part
I wish that I would be able actually to
create a whole work on-site because once
when you come into a place you see
things that you can't see on
architectural drawing maybe a texture on
the wall or a pipe that suddenly is
there and you didn't see it coming so
there's lots of these elements that you
can kind of work with but anyways
depending of this architecture I lay out
shapes and place the lights and then I
filled these spaces with wool um so
that's usually how it works. Yes yes and
that that's something I think that
people find very interesting and also
movement the movement in the work when
when there's video present and
especially when there's both video and
wool there often is a texture created
that is an illusion so for a moment to
talk about that and your intent for it
with the movement. So the movement is is
there because of the video and what
I've been using for many many years is
like a web or a map it's basically what
you see this is moving drawing what that
is it's like a mathematical
representation of a structure of a wall
it's basically the digital counterpart
to whole structure it's a digital body
that is then projected on the physical
body so that's kind of where this phrase
digital was born that I often use like
the last
exhibition was called Digital Muse this
contract that I really feel reflects the
time in which we live
I mean when you look back through
history we always had similar patterns
in economy or politics but bless you but
this particular moment when we have
these digital technologies is very
significant and I've captured that in my
work as an essence of time in which
which I live and especially you know
it's visible now during this pandemic
where our life in a physical world is
kind of halted and our this digital
sphere is an opening where we can
express our thoughts and creativity so
so that's something that it's very
important to me I think that video is
almost like I like to call it anti-video
it's really not doesn't have to do
anything with with video as a media or
like film it is more as an extension of
drawing and it moves slowly like I said
because the how I treat the world with
my hand it demands the video to slow
down very often I I synchronize the
speed with my breathing I like to be in
this space that it's very calm and
meditative like what we see in videos
around us non-stop is this flashy
superfast attention-grabbing marketing
thing that you kind of want to grab you
and I wanted to create some kind of
space that is counterpart to that
also with the video it's very
important to me that pixel is visible
that's also something that you know with
this ultra high-definition possibilities
I didn't want to follow that I wanted to create
something raw where you would actually
see also this digital texture so you can
zoom into it and see the pixel as a cell
of this digital texture and to merge
that digital again with the hair and its
tangles so this connection of technology
is super intimate with the body I would
say that that's something that is
going to stay I've been using this might
be actually interesting I've been using
this this particular voronoi-like shape
if you're not familiar with voronoi
diagram it's basically a web it's a
mathematical model that is used in
biology in medicine like to represent
the cell and to study tissues but it's
also used in studying and creating or
artificial intelligence and computing so
it is really for me important shape that
merges again biology body with
technology and artificial intelligence
when you look back in the history of
making art you see that artists are very
particular about the shapes they use I
don't know like cubism or minimalism
which I very much like so for me I was I
was used I was actually looking for the
shape that will allow me to kind of the
shape that it's not too simple but it's
not too like too complex that will
have these layers of meaning infused
into it
and so when I find this that's something
that I really wanted to use and I used
it at the installation Georgia is in a
very similar way like this installation
that it's at the Contemporary Art Center
it was used also at the Fugitive Muse
Exhibition I just applied the filter
onto it so the web was translated to
lots of little like a dots if you
stretch this if you see the like on
negative spaces in this diagram when you
magnify those you get those voronoi
cells which are the shapes actually of
my work the work that it's now at the
ACAC and and some exhibitions they may
be so in Atlanta like in a white space
gallery but the shape that influences
lots of lots of my work the video work
but also the the physical the shape of
the wall. And finally you've already
covered this a bit in terms of when you
were discussing the other elements of
your work but I just wanted to give you
an opportunity to talk about something
that I know is important not only to
your work but also to all of us as
humans at this time and that's
connection and how do again as we kind
of like go back to that your your
training and education not only as an
artist but as a scientist would you like
to talk about connection in a broad way.
You know I'm abstract artist and when
you're abstract artists I don't work
like a with literal things so sometimes
it's hard I think for people or
challenging to read the work that it's
abstract so I would
say that may be a metaphor or being
evocative in a way is something that I
use in my work to address lots of
different kind of questions one of them
definitely is this place of softness and
connectivity I think that wool is
talking about you know it's just the
material the produces warmth and
sympathy and kind of creates the safe
space we we kind of react to it almost
like without God is just the material of
that almost calms you and when I am
in the space with people when they come
in that's something that I share a lot I
would say that this flow of of drawing
or connected lines of flux is like a it
is a web and it does reflect the
disconnectivity in a visual way in an
abstract way the interconnectivity the
the flow of information the stream of
consciousness I would say these layers
of meaning are infused there and in an
abstract way non-literal way it's
something that is very important to me
you know sometimes I think of my work
it's almost like some kind of scenarios
for future or desire or outcome that I
would like to see and so this merging of
a physical and ancient in a very clean
way in the environments that is plastic- free and organic but it's fused with
very high-tech digital thought or
information it's almost like a some kind
of biopsy of future landscapes that I
would like to see that we see now but
with you know how
in this time of you know where we don't
move that much and there's less CO2
released in atmosphere and people are
more connected and aware of the problems
of environment it seems like everybody
wants to solve the problem you can almost
see the power of people coming together
and how much we can accomplish it's
almost like for me this vision for
future of connectivity and gentleness
and kindness by the information
information is very important as we can
see now you know the information that we
actually all want to hear of how to act
how to make situation better you know
how important that is so I would say my
work it is in that way I kind of know
utopian vision for maybe future maybe
right now what's happening what is
possible. Thank you so much Bojana. I
have a question can I ask a question
yeah okay so I was taking notes when you
were talking and you said something that
was just so poetic and really really
quite beautiful and it you ended up
wrapping it up too and what you were
saying at the conclusion of that last
question but you said that you start
from a conclusion of a previous work and
I just I loved that I thought that was
really beautiful particularly in your
aspiration to construct this scenario of
a future so in thinking about that do
you then see your work as an iterative
process that you're then aspiring to you
know construct this ideal world or is
its idyllic kind of sense of reality
really ideal I mean how how do you
navigate that space? It's really complex
it ends
I would say it it came to me through
work right because when I started I had
all these ideas I wanted to put
everything in my work I wanted to
explore materials in all kind of
different way I wanted to explore ideas
in all kind of different way and I
wanted to put so much into the work that
it was a place for me to think it was a
place for me to invent it was a place
for me to to find these like answers and
so I think with time as much as you know
like like when you're a young artist you
don't really know everything you don't
really know what what you're doing but
then you put the work out there it's in
the gallery and then you become not just
artists you become the viewer of the
work and as a viewer of the work you're
kind of analyzing it and you're learning
from it it's almost like I am pulling
the work with something that I know but
then I create something that maybe I
partially don't understand this is
something that really excites me it's
like a some kind of mystery that's
coming out of or through myself and
there is a viewer I am kind of thinking
and observing my own work and it's
giving me certain answers and so I feel
that processes keep repeating I take
these answers I put it into a new work
but then I get lost and and worked out
something new right and takes me to
another place that is surprising for me
that excites me that I myself don't
understand and then it starts again I'm
trying to understanding and learn from
it and so it's always it's it's like
everything rolls into this circle of
knowing and not knowing of being found
and then being lost because if
everything was just clear to me all the
time I think that would be very boring I don't know if that answered your question.
No that was amazing but when you were talking
about it you know and you you reference
the fact that many artists utilize kind
of a specific forms and shapes and you
can even think about you know
Renaissance artists trying to reference
Fibonacci sequences and things like that
like in your earlier question that you
were just answering you're trying to
uncover something that you know for you
it's driving you in your work but is
that thing that you're trying to uncover
the sequence of forms and and relativity
is it kind of written to such a degree
that you know your your aspiration to
uncover it is to in a sense release it
as well that it like you're you're
hoping to to unveil something that is
veiled and in existence naturally does
that make sense?
I like that I do I think we all try to
do that in a way in a sense that life is a mystery right
and so many things are uncovered and I
think all love mystery and so trying to figure
things out in an artistic way to
understand the wife to understand the
moment in which we live to pound her
about it it's just like a natural for me
I think for all of us to unveil it you
know I like this there there is also
like a method in higher on veiled things
right and I think that really depends on
an artist some use humor some like to
just demystify things the way I like to
work I like to kind of reveal it but in
a way that still partially hidden I
think I like this mystery I like my work
when you see it to be little mystifying
I think that's something that excites me
in other people's work
and so I would say yes it's revealed you
know lots of my work is completely
transparent like you can see through the
fiber so it's there but not literal. I
think what's interesting and also Bojana
about this and going back to Veronica's
questions are is that even though your
work is abstract there is a narrative so
you have this narrative and it's even
continuing from one work to the other.
Yeah my dog was falling asleep as well
and he was dreaming so I put myself on
mute for a minute.
Um I think you know were at some point
going to open back up and we're going to
be allowing people to come into the
space and experience your piece down in
the Chute space and you know for those
that have watched this interview that
have yet to see the physical experience
of what the work is in Chute space do
you have any you know they're they're
kind of in a sense getting the answers
before they see the work if they've
watched this this video so do you have
any sort of guidelines to how people
should engage with the work when they do
go down the stairs and and see the work
in person? Yeah I think from what I
experienced at the opening I think
people were doing fine actually
I was learning from them I had that's
the most amazing thing about being an
artist that I miss so much is this light
conversation and and people really they
love to come to me and they tell me I
need everything from you would have
people reacting from like, oh I see
ocean here and then we will talk about
nature or mountains
and then we would have talked about
consciousness and how a mind works and
the future of body and this digital
world so there's it's almost like the
work is you know and I I do believe that
art tells you who you are right because
we project of who we are when we see
something abstract and we reveal
actually own thoughts and this is
something that's so interesting to me so
whatever it is wherever the work takes
people I am completely fine with that
and that's the back to the diagram this
shape you know that then is so
fascinating to me that it's used not just in biology and medicine and you know
artificial intelligence but also in
geology archaeology so it's everywhere
you know it's in the body it's in the
nature it's in the technology and so
this layered meanings I am just so happy
because you know my work used to be so
complex that we're working with systems
and to find the space and shape where I
can actually layer meanings with a
pretty simple form it's very exciting. I
think it'll be really enlightening for
people and you're you're so generous and
letting them interpret the work and the
way that they see fit because it does
you know that that's a very generous way
to think that you're you're providing
kind of a space right almost to you're
going back to what you were saying about
that you start from a conclusion of a
previous work that in a sense like
people are having their own conclusion
of the work and you're starting fresh
even in that conversation so we're we're
looking forward to when we're back open
and you can have those conversations
with patrons again. Thank you I look forward I really hope its sooner than later.
the conversation with us Bojana. Thank you thank you thank
you so so I do want to say thank you to
Shannon and thank you to Bojana for
again
yeah this was this was wonderful and as
Shannon said today is Tuesday March 31st
of 2020 so you know we're we're looking
forward to that time when we're we're
all able to to come back together in
person but right now we're all together
apart and we are grateful that you both
took the time to do this and and thank
you very very much for everything.
