Interview with artist Ondrej Zunka: Video at the Norman Rave

Words by Sophie Norton

Ondrej Zunka showcased two of his videos on a projection loop at the Norman Rave exhibition earlier this year. The videos are titled ‘Looking at the brain, an ecorche and naked lady inside a mirror, wearing a mirror’, and ‘Creative juices’. Ondrej has been exploring themes of the natural world and how the most universal rules of nature, such as death, are a fundamental part of the life cycle of any system. His pieces respond to the idea that humans are inseparable from nature, and in a general sense Ondrej tries to encourage critical thinking in response to his work, asking the viewer to question what [they] already know.

Still from Ondrej’s video ‘Looking at the brain, an ecorche and naked lady inside a mirror, wearing a mirror’

Freedom of expression was central to the Norman Rave exhibition, as the 90s rave culture it made homage to involved collaboration and revolution. These themes are no stranger to Ondrej, who was born in a post-communist Czech Republic. Even though I haven’t lived through communism myself, the absence of those things - freedom of expression, collaboration, revolution - from back then is still in the air. 

Still from Ondrej’s video ‘Creative juices’

One of Ondrej’s latest series is ‘I’D RATHER BE OUTSIDE’, a love letter to plants and animals. It was a project inspired by the physical constraints of lockdown, and highlights the importance of nature and the outside world on our physical and mental health through six speculative realities. A mantra that resonates with Ondrej is ‘the only constant is change’. I try to embody that in my work - whether thematically or in my workflow. 

Still from Ondrej’s animation ‘DOGUE’, the first of his series ‘I’d Rather Be Outside’

Still from Ondrej’s animation ‘COMMON HOUSEPLANT’, the second of his series ‘I’d Rather Be Outside’

Custom audio is an element of some of Ondrej’s pieces, furthering the audience’s immersive experience. For now, he finds content from sound banks, and mixes the audio together from there. I did buy Ableton [and a keyboard] recently so I’m hoping to find some time to learn to make audio myself.

On the theme of progression, Ondrej has recently become involved with cryptoart - an apt space to take his natively-digital artwork. It’s legitimising that being a digital artist can be a viable career and I’m witnessing an explosion of creativity as a result of this. It’s a lot of fun and you get to meet really talented and inspiring people. I’m also very excited about blockchain technology and especially DAOs.

This leads us on to Ondrej’s business counterpart: Zünc Studio, of which he is a co-founder. We are a small team of artists that work with brands and agencies on marketing campaigns and design solutions. They have an impressive list of names they’ve worked with, including Adidas, Lexus and Nike Jordan. 

In his spare time Ondrej is a keen BMX rider, and earlier in the year collaborated on a project with Tony Hawk, where they had an online graffiti wall that was covered with real messages from friends and associates of theirs. I’ve been playing the [Tony Hawk Pro Skater] games since I was a child and skateboarding/BMX culture has always been a big part of my life. Hawk is a notable figurehead in Ondrej’s work, who was introduced to the art he produces now through skating. I got into digital art through filming street riding videos and editing them as a teenager. 

The online graffiti wall that was shared amongst Ondrej’s friends, covered in messages.

With regards to the future, Ondrej wants to stick to his mantra and keep evolving. I will let my curiosity decide where I’m going, rather than strategising or creating some sort of road map. It’s important for me to keep the joy of creating alive.

At Zünc, we are striving to work on more meaningful, future-facing projects with innovators and research-driven companies like Space 10. We hope to create work that will drive conversations and inspire actions for a better way of doing things - whether speculative or happening now - and hope to support other businesses with the same goals.

Follow Ondrej on Instagram @ondrejzunka and @zunc.studio and visit his website http://ondrejzunka.com/ to see more of his work.