Fabrizio Plessi Creates Immersive Installation for Rome's Baths of Caracalla

Fabrizio Plessi, a pioneer of Italian video art, has been commissioned by Rome's Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Superintendency to create a site-specific installation for the newly opened underground spaces of the Baths of Caracalla. The project, opening June 17 and running through the summer, is not a retrospective but a new, immersive, and interactive work centered on water and fire—elements central to Plessi's practice. The installation will be highly technological and virtual, described by the artist as "an archaeology of the future." It will also reference Rome's waters, fire, Baroque art, and historical memory. The soundscape is composed by Michael Nyman. Plessi's last major Rome exhibition was at the Scuderie del Quirinale in 2002. The project will be accompanied by a catalog published by Electa. The underground spaces, once housing the heating and cooling systems for the baths that served 12,000 bathers daily, provide a primordial atmosphere that inspired the work.