Cycle

Society and Digital Media

MetaGarden Sphere2

Tanja Vujinović

MetaGarden Sphere2 by Tanja Vujinović is an ecosystem made of futuristic machines as ur-forms that take care of ourselves and our environments. These objects, synthetic being-devices, are inspired by paleobotany, and technologies of artificial intelligence, plasma physics, and nanostructured materials. Through the virtual world and physical installations, she explores the twists between synthetic and natural. Works connect the past with the future and merge facts and elements from science and history with mythology. As the title suggests, she also draws inspiration from numerous metaphors related to gardens and their elements. Works that make the Sphere2 are Carboflora, Fontana, Arbora & Protectors, and Genera. Carboflora is an endless virtual simulation, within which virtual flora grows according to measurements of air pollutants. Fontana cleans water with the help of plasma, while little fountain disperses plasma treated water into the air. Genera cleans the air with the help of nanotubes. Arbora analyses emotional states through voice and generates binaural sound.

MetaGarden is an ongoing project that reflects upon a complex relationship of humanity and its technologically fortified environment of nature-culture, and focuses on a particular issue within each installation.

Biography

Tanja Vujinović is a new media artist working internationally since 1997. Her works have been exhibited at numerous significant galleries and museums around the world.

She is educated in design, visual arts, and philosophy. She graduated in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Arts in Belgrade in 1999. She was a guest student of Jan Dibbets at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf. She has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Theory of Visual Culture from the Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska, Koper.

She is a co-founder of SciArt Lab at the Institute Jozef Stefan, a laboratory for projects at the intersection of science and art.

She also runs the Ultramono Institute for production and research of New Media Art.

Her work is a research-based art practice that merges traditional art disciplines with new technologies. She focuses on the ways technology impacts human beings and nature, and through her work, she examines the relationships between human subjectivity, technology, and nature, as well as the amalgams formed by these relationships.

Admission free