Heart of the Arts: Meet Interdisciplinary Artist Dr. Bojana Ginn
Ginn combines art, science and technology to create immersive projection art and other installations.
Published: 02/03/22
Dr. Bojana Ginn, a Midtown artist-in-residence, in front of one of her digital installations at the Crum and Forster building.
BY ELLIE HENSLEY
For the past two years and counting, the pandemic has forced us to reframe how we report to work, socialize with others and spend time inside our own homes.
We’ve all looked for ways to process this global shift in perspective. Dr. Bojana Ginn chooses to examine it through an artistic lens.
There is perhaps no one better suited to the task. In addition to being an interdisciplinary artist, Ginn is a medical doctor and scientist. She is also one of Midtown Alliance’s artists-in-residence, and works on her art out of a dedicated space inside the historic Crum and Forster building courtesy of Portman Holdings.
Ginn sat down with us at her studio and gave us a look into the mechanisms behind her dreamy immersive projection art. Read more below.
Ginn's Digital Synesthesia 2
A Connection of Body and Technology
Ginn is from the former Yugoslavia, where she used to practice as a primary care physician. She now lives in Decatur, Ga., with her husband and focuses primarily on art, specifically installations, video sculpture, photography and painting.
“I’m trying to figure out what it means to be human in the time of digital technologies and unprecedented proliferation of these technologies, as well as biotech, global warming and now the pandemic,” Ginn said of her work. “I’m trying to reimagine how this technology can merge with the body. There are some benefits from it, but also some damage being done.”
She uses 360° immersive video projections, projection mapping and virtual immersion with VR headsets,merging these new technologies with organic fiber made of keratin, the same protein found in our skin and hair, to make her installations.
“It is that connection of body and technology that’s very intimate, like a pixel with a protein or a light with a protein, which is basically the basis of life,” she said.
The Science of Happiness
When the pandemic began to dominate headlines, Ginn realized she could merge her loves of medicine and art.
“We were all at home just listening to the news and figuring out what was happening, and we all had anxieties,” she said.
Ginn set out to create something expressive and therapeutic. After some research, she discovered that certain colors can influence emotion, and certain frequencies of white and purple are thought by some scientists to repair microstructures in our cells. She wanted to convey calming, so she integrated lots of violet tones into her work..
“I recorded my own deep breathing and I use that rhythm, infused it into video motions because deep breathing is actually also scientifically proven to relax you,” Ginn said.
The frequency of sound, frequency of color and gentle movements combine with natural material combine to have a soothing, healing effect on the observer’s body and mind. Ginn calls this series of installations she is creating “The Science of Happiness.”
“When people see it, they usually just kind of exhale, and I like to see that,” Ginn said. “I want people to feel like they can just recharge and relax.”
Watch
See more about this unique art installation and hear Dr. Ginn describe the intersection of her work with medical science and spirituality.
Studio Life
Ginn’s work has been shown all over the world, including Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, Nashville, Savannah, Berlin and the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. She has also collaborated with institutions including Emory University and NASA and NOAA, for whom she created an immersive video about species that live in extreme conditions and the possibility of life somewhere else in the universe.
In 2022, she’s focused on her series of installations at her studio inside the historic Crum and Forster building on the CODA campus, which she uses mainly as a gallery.
“My work is so site-specific, it really requires a gallery,” she said. “This study has been so wonderful because I can make work, record it and then it lives that way. It immediately shows how it will look in a gallery setting.”
Ginn's Solar Veins
Three years ago, Ginn and her husband moved to Decatur from Belgrade, Serbia, which has a population of over a million people. A city girl at heart, she is thriving in her studio in the heart of Midtown.
“I just love coming to the city and seeing all the people,” Ginn said. “It’s super inspiring. I love seeing CODA, it’s fantastic architecture. There’s so many students here from Georgia Tech, so I feel energized.”
Stay tuned for opportunities to check out Ginn’s latest creations in person. Check out Ginn’s website and follow her on Instagram to see what she’s working on.
