Zeller van Almsick curated by Angelo Plessas (P.E.T. Projects)
„PHENOMENA EVOKING THEOSIS“

Angelo Plessas is a Greek artist, educator, and founder of P.E.T. Projects in Athens. His work investigates the ambiguous approach of spirituality with technology. Plessas’ projects have been included at the 13th Gwangju Biennale, S. Korea, documenta 14, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Jeu de Paume, Paris; DESTE Foundation, and National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens.

Last year I started living in an isolated house somewhere in rural Greece. My idea at the beginning was to escape from a complicated urban activity that was entwined with a hyper-social artist's life. Then one could think I wanted to escape as much as possible the long-lasting effects of economic and environmental systems of late neoliberalism which is also true but deeper, it was more of a reaction to the existing facts of human existence and exploration for its new potentials. In this remote setting I longed to be working without distractions, but also to walk, read, write, or just do nothing and listen to the splendid "sound" of silence. In my new life’s quest for silence and purification, I had indeed fewer thoughts competing for my attention. I know it is impossible to be truly and authentically ‘off the grid’ nowadays. It is impossible to escape the attention economy as it is strongly rooted in capitalism and I am quoting writer Jenny Oddell who says "especially technologies that encourage a capitalist perception of time, place, self, and community". So located in this setting with the only exception of my Starlink connection-Elon Musk’s satellite internet, the closeness to other people is mirrored there in closeness to nature and its frequent mysteries. The strong peace of mind I feel there cannot be dependent on anything and nobody.

Being silent is a romantic idea, it is an addictive quest for something profound that barely exists anymore, the sense of the eternal even if that's temporal, the fixation on a cathartic ritual that enhances the wellbeing from the “noise” of our hyper-connected life. Is silence a healing process against compulsive narcissistic individuation, especially towards technocratic singularities? Does a move towards the “land” a form of ecological resistance? In a broader sense Is this an action to resign this world or to reform it? Do similar gestures suggest another kind of communication more psychic or esoteric?

For Phenomena Evoking Theosis I choose works and artists whose work and lives blend with the idea of a quiet pastoral counterculture expanding with different media and spanning across different eras. These artists’ works explore the connections between physical or immaterial, non-gender specific or queer/ feminist, biographical or contrived, and spiritual or technological. The show becomes a means to reconsider and re-imagine a momentary or a lifelong place of isolation considering different angles and themes like contemporary spirituality, technological decay, and social resilience. There is no anxiety, no analysis, no happiness or sadness. The show becomes a space of pure contemplation. Silence in this way becomes another song of life.