What is PLEXUS
Since its beginnings in 1982, in New York, Plexus International has played a seminal role in the conception and realization of numerous cross-cultural experimental art projects, involving on some occasions hundreds of artists and scientists, around the world, which are still an unexamined part of the contemporary art history. It would be very difficult to try to label Plexus International activities under existing art categories because, even today, Plexus continues to resist against any definition of art.
The plexus story from 1982 to 2025, with a short pre-history
"PLEXUS" by definition
A network of intersecting nerves or blood/lymph vessels (e.g., brachial plexus, solar plexus).
Plexus may be is one of the most complex, one of the most universal, in Plexus we find so many different kinds of performances of art, actions and exhibitions, which is important as a kind of summa of all works since the Living Theatre, Cage, all schools of improviser art.
Kre MBaye, Dakar, 1987
Plexus is a tendency in direction of the universal of the civilization. It is a way to put together all people, it is a tendency to watch what happens in this planet with a consciousness of what happens, with no separation between the world and the human being. Plexus is not an organization, it is more about a philosophy, a thought, a proposition, a view on how we deal with the issue of the human being. It is a tendency in direction of the unity, against any definitions or classifications which make separations.
What you feel and see is your own creation . . . We are called PLEXUS
I am labelling it: "Mytho-Compressionism"
Here, we have compressed history, re-created mythology.
Time has speed up and there is no time left for aesthetic distance between the artist as performer and the art observer.
In these simultaneous Plexus Co-Operas we have destroyed this distance, and they in turn interact, creating a new operatic form. We have extended the compass of vision to include the former observer as participant. We are user friendly. Use us or lose us.
We are all independent thinkers and dreamers collating our collective visions collaboratively.
Please experience us wisely and with an open heart. This is open ART.
PLEXUS is beautiful chaos
See and You See. Now the Space between You and Me Disappears.
But I Still Despair because I Don't Know whether You Did what I Did...
in order to See what You See.
Ray Kelly, New York, 1985
Art is a way of life, it is a way of understanding. Art is something else from money, and from what bullshit is presented usually. Art is the future which can't be controlled. It is in the air without wires. Art is free. The artists are part of the structure which the power system is trying to push out. Liquid forms vs. square lines.
The Plexus process is a not linear activity and less rationale, which the coherence appears only after the fact... and you will understand it only after you let yourself participating into it.
Definition:
l am - What you - Don't think - l am - Which is what - You don't - Know
The beauty of Plexus is that we were strong enough to be able to cross all conflicts, beside the fact that we have different origins, the feeling that we have, we were able to do what we had to do without to put in front our confrontations to block all the project and to go together and to move further the project to go on. There was a mystic force behind us to pass through all the economic difficulties and to answer to the question: for whom I am doing this?
Long distance lies between virtual realities and actual living, breathing realities.
PLEXUS is what you think, that is.
PLEXUS is the shaman journey along the lines of Van Gennep's Rites of Passage's format.
Plexus Black Box has not a defined definition. It does not work in definition terms. It is a fluid thought which grows, changes, moves differently for each of us. It is made to not be framed. it is a fluid idea, with a lot concerns, it is a radical democracy, it is chaos.
"ENTROPY"
PLEXUS = kBlnW
PLEXUS as entropy and therefore as information
We needed greater synthesis efforts in order to define PLEXUS
Piero della Francesca as vision of Global Human.
Plexus as an open artificial artform that offers the opportunity to many people to feel part of a cultural context, without knowing in advance the full picture of it and their reason for doing it.
Mitch Ross, New York, 1983
From 1983 to 2023, Plexus has carried out numerous collaborative projects and events in various parts of the world, bringing together musicians, visual artists, performers, poets, theatre actors, dancers, playwrights, scholars, and community activists. These projects have involved both established names and emerging artists. These events, which have characterized Plexus's journey and included over 1,000 artists, remain an unexplored part of contemporary art history.
With over 1,000 artists from around the world participating in its initiatives, Plexus International stands as a testament to the enduring power of collaboration and creativity in art.
Plexus Art Journey continues...
Che cosa è PLEXUS
Sarebbe molto difficile cercare di etichettare Plexus sotto le esistenti definizioni d'arte, perchè ha sempre resistito ad essere definito nelle esistenti categorie d'arte.
Plexus may be is one of the most complex, one of the most universal, in Plexus we find so many different kinds of performances of art, actions and exhibitions, which is important as a kind of summa of all works since the Living Theatre, Cage, all schools of improviser art.
Kre MBaye, Dakar, 1987
Plexus è una tendenza nella direzione dell'universale della civiltà. È un modo per unire tutte le persone, è una tendenza a osservare ciò che accade su questo pianeta con la consapevolezza di ciò che succede, senza separazione tra il mondo e l'essere umano.
Plexus non è un'organizzazione, è più una filosofia, un pensiero, una proposta, una visione su come affrontare la questione dell'essere umano.
Ciò che sentite e vedete è vostra creazione. Ci chiamiamo PLEXUS
I am labelling it: "Mytho-Compressionism"
Abbiamo compresso storia e ricreato mitologia.
Il Tempo ha accellerato e non è rimasto tempo per una distanza estetica tra l'artista come performer e l'asservatore artistico.
Abbiamo esteso l'angolo visuale per includere l'ex OSSERVATORE come partecipante. Siamo amici del fruitore.
Usaci o perdici.
Siamo tutti pensatori e sognatori indipendenti e confrontiamo in collaborazione le nostre visioni collettive.
Per favore sperimentateci saggiamente e con il cuore aperto. Questa è ARTE aperta.
PLEXUS is beautiful chaos
See and You See. Now the Space between You and Me Disappears.
But I Still Despair because I Don't Know whether You Did what I Did...
in order to See what You See.
Ray Kelly, New York, 1985
Art is a way of life, it is a way of understanding. Art is something else from money, and from what bullshit is presented usually. Art is the future which can't be controlled. It is in the air without wires. Art is free. The artists are part of the structure which the power system is trying to push out. Liquid forms vs. square lines.
The Plexus process is a not linear activity and less rationale, which the coherence appears only after the fact... and you will understand it only after you let yourself participating into it.
Definition:
l am - What you - Don't think - l am - Which is what - You don't - Know
The beauty of Plexus is that we were strong enough to be able to cross all conflicts, beside the fact that we have different origins, the feeling that we have, we were able to do what we had to do without to put in front our confrontations to block all the project and to go together and to move further the project to go on. There was a mystic force behind us to pass through all the economic difficulties and to answer to the question: for whom I am doing this?
Long distance lies between virtual realities and actual living, breathing realities.
PLEXUS is what you think, that is.
PLEXUS is the shaman journey along the lines of Van Gennep's Rites of Passage's format.
Plexus Black Box has not a defined definition. It does not work in definition terms. It is a fluid thought which grows, changes, moves differently for each of us. It is made to not be framed. it is a fluid idea, with a lot concerns, it is a radical democracy, it is chaos.
We needed greater synthesis efforts in order to define PLEXUS
"ENTROPY"
PLEXUS = kBlnW
PLEXUS as entropy and therefore as information
We needed greater synthesis efforts in order to define PLEXUS
Piero della Francesca as vision of Global Human.
Plexus as an open artificial artform that offers the opportunity to many people to feel part of a cultural context, without knowing in advance the full picture of it and their reason for doing it.
Mitch Ross, New York, 1983
Negli anni Ottanta, in un periodo di significativa vivacità culturale ed esperimentazione artistica, Plexus International nasce a New York, sviluppandosi poi a Dakar, Cagliari, Roma e Amsterdam, da un gruppo eterogeneo di artisti, che non accettando le dinamiche del mondo dell'arte e del mercato, a bordo di una metaforica nave di schiavi dell'arte, cercavano un loro altro spazio-tempo dove liberamente condividere idee e sperimentazioni, al di fuori dai limiti delle scene artistiche esistenti.
Dal 1983 al 2023, Plexus ha realizzato in diverse parti del mondo numerosi progetti ed eventi collaborativi tra musicisti, artisti visivi, performers, poeti, attori teatrali, ballerini, drammaturghi, studiosi e attivisti comunitari, a cui hanno partecipato nomi affermati ed artisti emergenti. Questi eventi, che hanno caratterizzato il viaggio di Plexus e a cui hanno partecipato oltre 1000 artisti, sono ancora una parte inesplorata della storia contemporanea dell'arte.
Questo mix eclettico collaborativo è diventato il carattere distintivo degli eventi artistici di Plexus, attraverso un'atmosfera carica di ispirazione, con idee che scorrevano libere come un fiume nella creazione di una forma d'arte collaborativa unica, nota come "The Plexus Art Co-Opera".
Le Art Operas e Co-Operas sono state il carattere distintivo del viaggio di Plexus, che unito diverse comunità di artisti, con diverse visioni e forme artistiche su pressanti sfide quali i diritti umani, la pace, la perdità della biodiversità, la desertificazione, il valore della diversità culturale, lanciando nel 2008 nell'ambito del progetto itinerante "Erosions and Renaissance" un "Appello per la Salvaguardia del Patrimonio Culturale e Naturale dell'Umanità" dalla Casa degli Schiavi di Goree, Dakar, come simbolo dell'erosione della nostra memoria storica.
Ogni evento di Plexus International si è svolto nel proprio presente, fatto di richiami a concetti e attività passate, proiettandosi nel futuro, in cui l'arte, come il cibo, è elemento essenziale per la nostra evoluzione.
Nel corso degli anni, nel viaggio di Plexus sono stati anche esplorati mezzi di comunicazione sperimentale e scambi di arte digitale, prima che esistesse iternet.
- Nel 1987, a Gavoi (Sardegna) nell'ambito dell'Art Coopera "Il Serpente di Pietra", ha esplorato prima che esistesse internet, una interazione via I.P., Sharp bitnet e Earn network per scambi digitali di opere d'arte in diverse parti del mondo facilitate dal Dax Group della Carnegie Mellon University e il Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Cagliari.