Invisible Forces
INVISIBLE FORCES
The Young Generation of Digital Artists
13/10 2022–8/1 2023
Gallery 3
Curators: Iva Polanecká (Kunsthalle Praha)
Daniel Burda, Mario Kunovský a Martin Pošta (Signal Festival)
Exhibiting artists: Filip Hodas, Martin Houra, Johana Kroft, Jana Stýblová, Jakub Špaček, Ondřej Zunka & Zünc Studio
Media partner of the exhibition: CzechCrunch
The Invisible Forces exhibition presents works by young Czech digital artists who explore various aspects of coexistence between organic life forms. The digital environment is a medium that enables the creation of complex illusions and simulations capable of transposing us into different environments, bodies, and times. The selected artists share a fascination with natural and physical processes, phenomena, and structures. Here, they offer us their individual perspectives on the diversity of life on the planet, albeit in formats that are not necessarily subject to the aesthetic or functional laws of our world.
"Nature and the world around us form the environment we encounter on a daily basis. We are part of it, and together we create a system of interconnected proximities which we gradually perceive and integrate into our consciousness. Despite being able to look into its most minute details, we are not able to conceive of life on Earth on a holistic scale, and we can capture individual experiences only in a fragmentary manner. Established boundaries are overstepped, and we find ourselves transported out of the known and imaginable into yet entirely uncharted territory. In the process, we also discover analogous approaches in new forms and in differently configured relationships.
The accelerating degradation of the environment brings with it a new intellectual, ethical, and regulatory pressure, one that calls on us to recognise nature's fragility and to take on the responsibility of preserving it for future generations. Imitating the fascinating processes we observe in the living world and making use of them, i.e. approaching the world through biology (bio-design), can show us what kind of interdisciplinary consilience might bring us closer to finding new solutions to pressing issues. Ultimately, observing the functional principles of nature helps us better understand our role within our ecosystem and conceive of our identity as humans."
– IVA POLANECKÁ, CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION
© Zünc Studia
Ondrej Zunka & Zünc Studio: PHOTOSYSTEM II
Curators: Iva Polanecká (Kunsthalle Praha)
Daniel Burda, Mario Kunovský, Martin Pošta (Signal Festival)
A project by Czech digital artist Ondřej Zunka and his Zünc Studio was hosted at Kunsthalle Praha as part of Signal Festival. The aim of this collaboration between Kunsthalle Praha & Signal Festival is to support young artists of the digital age.
Light is the essence of life. In order for plants to transform carbon dioxide and water into oxygen, they need energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis (from the Greek phōs – ‘light’ and synthesis – ‘putting together’) is the fundamental process through which Earth developed into the biologically diverse, oxygen-rich, green planet we know today. Observing organisms – plants – as fascinating, elaborate systems can help us understand how to adapt and live with others in harmonious symbiosis.
PHOTOSYSTEM II, an interactive installation inspired by bio-design, consists of a series of large-format projections depicting one of the two complexes of the primary (light-dependent) phase of the process of photosynthesis. By immersing ourselves in the micro- and macrocosms of perfect systems like photosynthesis, we can better understand what it is we are a part of and realise how inseparably we are bound to the Earth. From this perspective, we can then see the world as a network of countless relationships that need not necessarily be limited to the human species; other living organisms are also active participants. Thanks to them, and the inspiration we find in them, we can rediscover untrodden ways of developing design, architecture, and modern technology, as well as fresh approaches to solving the pressing problems of our times.
Ondřej Zunka lives and works in London. He studied systems engineering and later began experimenting with 3D software and digital art. He primarily creates photorealist worlds and speculative reality, which provide him with a virtually unlimited space for self-realisation; he is also the creative director of Zünc Studio. Although his works are exclusively digital, we can often find references within them to the realities of the natural world.
Projections: Lunchmeat, Zünc Studio / Photos: Lukáš Masner, Létoslav Chromek
Aw! Lab is Galerie 3’s immersive audiovisual environment for presenting experimental projects and art of the digital age. Space, time, sound, and light are the foundational parameters or dimensions that define the laboratory space. Within the Aw! Lab programme, Kunsthalle Praha aims to present a variety of fields within digital image and sound production and to host artistic interventions exploring interdisciplinary perspectives on technology in the context of current affairs.
Signal Festival is celebrating its tenth birthday. For the past decade, this festival of digital and creative culture has linked art, urban space, and modern technologies. Initially a showcase of video mapping and light design, Signal Festival has since evolved into a respected digital art festival and one of the biggest art/tech cultural events in the Czech Republic.
