ART-PRESENTATION: Michelangelo Pistoletto-Do It

In 2003 Pistoletto wrote “The Third Paradise” manifesto and drew its symbol. The basic idea of is the overcoming of the current worldwide existing conflict between the two polarities of nature and artifice. The Third Paradise is symbolically represented by a reconfiguration of the mathematical infinity sign. In the symbol three circles are drawn: the two opposite circles signify nature and artifice, the middle one is the conjunction of the two and represents the generative womb of a new humanity.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: YARAT Contemporary Art Centre Archive

In March 2004 the University of Turin granted Pistoletto an honorary degree in Political Science. On that occasion Pistoletto publicly announced that “The Third Paradise” would be the next phase of his work. A work developed through building a growing network of relationships and collaborations with many different partners: individuals, associations and institutions active not only in the artistic field, but at every level and sphere of the social life, turning it into a big collective and participatory work of art. New and seminal archive works are on presentation at “Do It”, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s solo exhibition at YARAT Centre, with central theme his manifesto. Pistoletto continues to use this ideology as the catalyst for new installations, which are presented in conversation with a selection of the artist’s early works. On presentation is 23 mirrors that reveal the word “RESPECT” in the world’s most spoken languages. Embodying the artist’s thoughts on the human condition, these broken mirrors also recall the political investigations that Pistoletto carries out in the Cittadellarte that is situated in a former mill in Biella acquired by the artist in 1991 and was officially inaugurated in the summer of 1998. Since that time Cittadellarte has constantly developed its structure and its programs. Its objective, in brief, is “To inspire and produce a responsible change in society by means of creative ideas and projects”. For his exhibition the artist has devised “Labirinto e Grande Pozzo” (1969-2018) a site-specific installation that returns to a form that Pistoletto often explores through his work, one which draws visitors through a maze of sculptures throughout the space. He describes the labyrinth as “a winding and unforeseeable road that leads us to the place of revelation, of knowledge”. Pistoletto’s maze alters the viewers’ understanding of the architecture and makes each one a fundamental part of the work itself. In the installation “Metamorfosi” (1976-2018) a pile of rags and used clothes is divided in half by a double mirror. The clothes on one side are multi-colored while, on the other, they are completely white. So while we can perfectly see that we are dealing with two different halves, the mirror redoubles each half to complete it and makes it seem that, from one side or the other, the pile consists of uniform clothes, either all white or all colored. The viewers are involved in a relationship with the work, and their ability to “see” beyond the appearance, the mirrored reflection, and its pleasant illusion, allows them to understand that the pile of rags is not uniform, that the division (by the mirror into two halves) blocks any real perception of the whole, that the mountain of clothes is such only if formed from both halves.

Info: Curator: Björn Geldhof, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, E119, Bayil District (Near National Flag Square), Baku, Duration: 1/4-10/6/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 12:00-23:00, www.yarat.az