Synapses, the new project by Stefanos Tsivopoulos (Greek Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013), curated by Matteo Lucchetti, consists of a solo exhibition at Prometeogallery by Ida Pisani and a series of actions and performances on September 16 and 17, designed for the public space of the city of Milan and realized with the co-curatorship of Careof and in collaboration with the Department of Culture and the Department of Welfare and Leisure of the Municipality of Milan.

Synapses is Tsivopoulos’s first non-film production and gathers, in the exhibition space at Via Ventura 3, a heterogeneous group of new works that reflect, through multiple solutions, the artist’s attempt to shed light on the economic structures governing the different productive fields of our society. The synapses, literally the junctions between nerve cells that allow the transmission of nerve impulses, are here understood as missing historical, economic, and cultural connections, which the works on display attempt to visualize in sculptural, pictorial, and photographic forms. The public part of Synapses is articulated in seven minimal and immaterial actions, constructed or improvised, which take place simultaneously in seven different public and private locations in Milan. These situations, performed by a series of performers, will take shape in relation to the specificity of the environment hosting them, acting, more or less explicitly, as a resonating chamber for the historical, social, and economic fabric of these seven corners of Milan.

Synapses draws inspiration from situationist drifts, as well as from Carl G. Jung’s concept of synchronicity and John Cage’s action 49 Waltzes for the 5 Boroughs. The project can also be read as a continuation of History Zero, the film the artist presented in 2013 at the Greek Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, where three different individual stories showed three approaches to the economy and its dynamics, against the backdrop of Greece dominated by an all-encompassing monetary crisis. Those stories, as well as the interconnected situations of Synapses, appropriate the surrounding reality to offer an unprecedented vision capable of opening up still unexplored scenarios.

The public can attend the public performances of Synapses for free by registering via email at synapses@prometeogallery.com, in order to receive a detailed program with all information about times and locations. Conceptually connected to some previous works, such as Amnesialand (2010) and History Zero (2013), the exhibition at Prometeogallery by Ida Pisani represents a further investigation into the political agenda hidden behind raw materials and their possible role as a minimum common denominator between artworks, commodities, and history.