Angelo Plessas
Karma Mechanics
December 7, 2018–January 26, 2019The Breeder, Athens
The Breeder is pleased to present Angelo Plessas’ solo exhibition “Karma Mechanics”.
“KARMA MECHANICS is a course of study best suited for self-realizing robots. The sooner we come to accept our mechanical, robotic self, the sooner we can find the “mold” and break free. By confessing our “conditioned” robothood, we begin self-realizing as robots, in order to evolve into the humanity we are in essence. This starts when our “true feelings” become more rewarding than our conditioned responses. The challenge is in response-ability.. .the ability to respond creatively to the unknown”.
Extract from “Angel Tech” by Antero Alli
The text above explores and defines what could be one of the primary strange loops of being human nowadays. Do we live in a socialist dream of imagining a hyperconnected world, or are we just part of a post-capitalist technocracy? What are the implications of living in an environment where almost everything we do in our lives leaves a digital trace, from simple communication to the use of home appliances? Does the reality of technology create unexpected mental and physical vulnerabilities? Does our domestic life become a “public show” or a self-healing retreat? Does the fetishism of technology escalate in technological superstitions, creating already a “cyberfolklore” or “technopagan” culture?
The work of Angelo Plessas positions these questions in a space of scientific sensuality and holistic experimentation. The exhibition Karma Mechanics is an environment divided into of compartments dedicated to Science, Nature and Spirituality, using “material” that evolve into rituals and shedding light on the fluid socio-emotional states of our current post-technological life. The show will present alternate scenarios of both utopian or dystopian propositions featuring media such as websites, hand-sewn quilts, video, home appliances and spontaneous rituals.
Plessas has presented his work in a number of exhibitions, which among others include: “I was raised on the Internet“, MCA Chicago (2018); Documenta 14, Athens and Kassel, curated by Adam Szymczyk (2017); “Instructions for Happiness”, curated by Severin Dünser and Olympia Tzortzi, 21er Haus Vienna (2017); “Collectivisms”, Foam, Amsterdam (2107); “Si Sedes Non Is”, curated by Milovan Farronato, The Breeder, Athens (2017); ‘DESTE Prize: An Anniversary Exhibition 1999- 2015”, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens (2017); “ARS 17, Hello World!”, invited by Attilia Fattori Franchini, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; (2017); Art & Nature – Walking with Senses, curated by BAU, South Tyrol, Italy (2016); “Extropic Optimisms”, The Breeder Skin, Athens (2016); “Narcissus Now”, Onassis Cultural Centre, New York (2015); “Ethereal Sunrise”, special commission for the Onassis Foundation Cultural Centre, Athens (2015); “Deste Prize 2015”, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens (2015); “Mirage Machines” solo exhibition at The Breeder, Athens, (2015); “Supersuperstudio”, PAC Milano curated by Andreas Angelidakis, Vittorio Pizzigoni and Valter Scelsi, (2015); “Food” curated by Adelina von Furstenberg in MuCEM, Marseille (2014); “Scenes d’ Europe” curated by Florence Derieux and Antoine Marchand, Frac Champagne- Ardenne (2013); Frieze Projects curated by Nicola Lees, Frieze London (2013); The Twilight of the Idols, Every Website is a Monument, Cell Projects, London (2012); “A Rock and a hard place”, 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale, curated by Paolo Colombo, Mahita Ebu and Marina Fokidis (2011); “The Angelo Foundation School of Music”, curated by Stamatis Schizakis at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2011); “Splendid Isolation”, 3rd Athens Biennale, curated by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz (2009); The Angelo Foundation Headquarters (with Andreas Angelidakis), curated by Maria Ines Rodriguez, Jeu De Paume, Paris (2009); “In Present Tense”, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2007). He is the founder and curator of The “Eternal Internet Brother/Sisterhood”, a collaborative annual residency/ summit/ project realised in different parts of the world. He is also the founder of “Experimental Education Protocol”.
With special thanks to Macklin Kowal
