Vera Ondrašikova: Guide

A dazzling light show with intimations of cosmic mysticism


From its opening premise – a soberly clothed man swizzling introspectively around a spare living space – you wouldn’t expect a bedazzling light show with intimations of cosmic mysticism. But Věra Ondrašíková’s Guide makes that quantum leap with considerable brio, messing with our heads with some light doppelganger drama along the way. Josef Kotesovsky and Jaro Ondrus are the identically dressed duo playing hide-and-seek between sheets of laser light that variously mimic cloudy stratospheres, tilting sea surfaces and assorted space-time warps. The men cut stark silhouettes as they pop out of and flit between these virtual zones, sonically imprinted with pounding beats, mellow moods and deafening blasts. When all that white light and noise return to a simple candlelight glow, we’re left rather spaced out – both a little empty emotionally (that mysterious doubleplay didn’t really go anywhere) and physically very wired.