Mirage Machines
In his new series of interactive websites, Angelo Plessas opens three portals for the formation of a new cosmic consciousness. He engages the viewer in a step-by-step process of TechnoShamanistic healing — through meditation, blessing, reflection, and rebirth. The first website — QuantaMirage.com — inspired by shamanic and tantric iconography, invites the users to explore the symbiosis of ancient wisdom with algorithms. The second portal — CycleOfEndlessRebirths.com — envisions an altar of forgotten cosmogonies and computer-generated symbolisms. And the final — BehindTheSolarGlow.com, which transforms the luminous mandala strings into a celestial harp with each movement of your cursor. The websites were created within the long-term project The Noospheric Society, which Angelo has been running since 2017. The term ‘noosphere’ here embodies a sphere, which has advanced from the biosphere into a new layer of global human intelligence.
Angelo Plessas is an artist who investigates the ambiguous approach of spirituality with technology and explores different cosmologies which connect ancient, folk and cybernetic histories. Since the early years of the Internet, Plessas’ research has been focused on the fluid relationship between online and offline worlds, and has been initiating communal experiences between beings, symbols, and machines. His activities range from performances to artist’s residencies; from self-publishing books to interactive websites; from quilted sculptures to live-stream events; from neon installations to educational projects. Recently his practice has expanded to teaching, writing, curating, and different forms of healing. Over the last few years, he has been organising the annual, weeklong gatherings of the Eternal Internet Brotherhood/Sisterhood and Experimental Education Protocol. These projects happen in different places in the world involving both international and local artists, curators, designers, and researchers. Angelo’s work has been exhibited internationally in recent shows such as the 8th Thessaloniki Biennale, the Onassis Foundation (Athens), the 8th Biennale of Gherdëina (Val Gardena), the Serralves Foundation (Porto), and the 13th Gwangju Biennale. Other projects have also been exhibited in documenta 14 in both Kassel and Athens, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), the Jeu de Paume (Paris), the DESTE Foundation (Nea Ionia), and the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens). He is the founder of the independent space P.E.T. Projects in Athens, a Fulbright alumnus, and the recipient of the DESTE Foundation Prize in 2015. Angelo lives and works between Athens and Kymi, Greece.
