A conversation with artist Angelo Plessas.
references
Angelo at the 13th Gwangju Biennial
shownotes
"As an artist I am trying to see the hidden connections between things and trying to understand things that I feel as a person that thinks in slightly different ways." - Angelo Plessas
In early February of 2020, I was invited to an impromptu lunch at the lovely and large home of artist Chrysanne Stathacos in the Kolonaki neighborhood of Athens, the day before my return to New York.
We all have moments that stand out as markers of the time before covid and all that has been left in its wake. That afternoon with friends in Athens stands for me as one of those poles representing the time before. It would have been memorably enjoyable on its own, without all the fear, change and upheaval that followed. But due to its pivot-like quality, the gathering takes on a sort of weightiness. It seems appropriate that this was also the occasion in which I met Angelo Plessas, an artist whose work is focused on technology's relationship to spiritual growth. I remember him discussing with me his plans for the Gwangju Biennial and how his work was going to explore the topic of healing and technology. In retrospect, his practice couldn't be more profoundly in-sync with the world that emerged.
Angelo is someone who, from the beginning, has been and remains deeply invested in understanding the internet not only as a tool but also how it exists inside each of us, deep in our interiority. When speaking again, after more than two years of the whole world moving almost fully online, he remains an optimist. It is a welcome change whenever I speak with Angelo, someone who feels that the internet remains queer and is capable of bringing people together in a positive way. Who'd believe it, given the doom and gloom prophesied by seemingly everyone else.
I enjoyed this conversation with Angelo a lot. I think we need more people thinking like he is, finding moments of healing in our relationships with technology. We talk about a number of things, including his recent collaboration with Acne Studios in producing a fashion line from his singular style of quilting, made from materials that protect our bodies from electro-magnetic fields being generated by the devices that surround us.