Welcome to the special “20th Anniversary” section of Top Yacht Design. Here, day by day, we present the best stories, yachts, and personalities we’ve covered over the past 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to today.
Taken from Top Yacht Design no. 38/2024, pp. 48-55
Profiles: Michelangelo Pistoletto
Famous for his Arte Povera, his mirror paintings and Venus of the Rags, the artist from Biella talks with us about the sea.
Regarded as one of the most influential proponents of Italian Art Povera, Michelangelo Pistolettto is also, and perhaps above all, a philosopher. His art is generated by what he calls the “Formula of Creation”, which is represented by a drawing of infinity with lines that intersect twice instead of once, creating three circles. The two outer circles represent the opposing elements that, uniting in the central circle, give life to the universe of things and its constant expansion. The central circle is the location of an artificial planet created by humankind, a planet that in this century has collided with the natural world we live on. We meet him on the terrace of his studio home in the Cittadellarte, a former textile mill the artist has rebuilt and transformed into a place where art is experienced and taught as an instrument for the responsible transformation of society, a laboratory-school dedicated to the study, experimentation and development of practices that translate the Terzo Paradiso symbol into reality.
These practices also have a scientific basis. “My artistic research led me to the formula of creativity and creation. This same formula has been applied since the beginning and now coincides with the formula of natural creation that has recently been identified by scientific research”, says Pistoletto. This idea was ratified by the encounter between Pistoletto and Guido Tonelli, the Italian physicist who in 20u present-ed the first evidence confirming the existence of the Higgs Boson with a mass of around 125GeV. During this meeting Tonelli confirmed the scientific validity of Pistoletti’s Formula of Creation, which aims to nurture greater awareness in the new generations. “The World will improve if the new generations understand that this is the direction we should go in if we want humanity to enjoy greater physical and social well-being”.
Bringing the conversation round to our favourite subject we ask if he has ever considered including the sea in one of his mirror paintings. Pistoletto looks at us in surprise. He had never thought about this, even though he has a much-loved house in Corniglia. “Nature has no instant of memory, nature is involved in a constant physical and chemical change”, he answers. “What I’ve always put in my paintings, though, is the artificial world. But it’s an interesting question”. The ice is broken, and perhaps the sea can become the subject of a more in-depth discussion with the artist, so we ask Pistoletto about his collaboration with Sanlorenzo Arts, which led to the Terzo Paradiso symbol’s appearance on the façade of the historic Venetian palazzo that is to host the brand’s new cultural hub for three months. “It’s more than a partnership, it’s really a kind of sponsorship”, he says. “My work is a proposal for change that starts from the negativity we live in. It’s a suggestion for financial investment meant to encourage change, and Sanlorenzo’s hydrogen propulsion is a perfect example. That is why their commitment was sealed with the temporary loan of the symbol of the Third Paradise, he concludes.”.
We risk a final question, expecting a negative response. He looks at us, shakes his head and laughs He then becomes serious, seems lost in thought for a while then continues, “Many years ago in Vernazza I organised an applause for the sea. The waves were high that day and the people had come to the beach to watch the event. I realised it was like a theatrical show with an actor and an audience, and I suggested the applause. It was an emotional experience”. It’s the kind of idea only an artist like him could come up with. But isn’t the sea also something more than a spectacle to applaud? “I’d say water rather than the sea”, he says. “The surfaces that when the sea is calm reflect what’s above them, the sky, the birds, as if the water were a huge, flat mirror. In this case the spectacle is created by the intense shine, the maximum distension of the surface that loses the representation of itself and eliminating the image allows the inclusion of everything that exists and carries us into a new dimension”. A Third Marine Paradise, perhaps.
by Giuliana Fratnik
photo by Pierluigi Di Pietro
