The Mirror Vases of the Third Paradise



Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella. Photography: Enrico Amici



To create this array of vases forming the Nuovo Segno d'Infinito - composed of three rings instead of the conventional two - Michelangelo Pistoletto has organised a collective design process to give shape to his great sculptural work. In actual fact, this design process resulted in the production of sixty vases moulded on rotating lathes, so that they were all different from each other but based on the same physical gestures. Each vase actually embodies the anonymous design of the lathe operators - the kind of design implicit in local craftsmanship - and young computer model-makers.

Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella. Photography: Enrico Amici

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella. Photography: Enrico Amici

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella. Photography: Enrico Amici

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella. Photography: Enrico Amici

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella. Photography: Enrico Amici

Italian Cultural Institut of Madrid-Embassy of Italy in Spain

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Italian Cultural Institut of Madrid-Embassy of Italy in Spain

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Italian Cultural Institut of Madrid-Embassy of Italy in Spain

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Italian Cultural Institut of Madrid-Embassy of Italy in Spain

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Italian Cultural Institut of Madrid-Embassy of Italy in Spain

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Italian Cultural Institut of Madrid-Embassy of Italy in Spain

Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli. Photography: Fulvio Rosso

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli. Photography: Fulvio Rosso

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli. Photography: Fulvio Rosso

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli. Photography: Fulvio Rosso

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli. Photography: Fulvio Rosso

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli. Photography: Fulvio Rosso

Triennale Design Museum, Milan

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Courtesy Triennale Design Museum, Milan

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Courtesy Triennale Design Museum, Milan

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Courtesy Triennale Design Museum, Milan

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Courtesy Triennale Design Museum, Milan

MUDAC - Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Mudac, Lausanne. Photography: Frank Baumgartner

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso. Mudac, Lausanne. Photography: Frank Baumgartner



The Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso by Michelangelo Pistoletto were prototyped in Albisola (Italy) on occasion of the travelling exhibition “Changing the world with a vase of flowers”, MUDAC-Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts, Lausanne, 2011; Pierluigi and Natalina Remotti Foundation-City of Camogli, 2010-2011; Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid-Italian Embassy in Spain, 2010. 
The Vasi Specchio del Terzo Paradiso were also presented at the following exhibitions: “Il Terzo Paradiso”, Fondazione Cittadellarte, Biella, 2009; “Independent Design Secession”, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, 2011.