Pistoletto's luminous Third Paradise lights up in Monte Isola on Lake Iseo.

On Monte Isola, the village at the center of the island of the same name in the middle of Lake Iseo, the Third Paradise of Energy, a previously unseen work by Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella, 1933), has been lit up, enriching the experience of visiting the “island of artists” since Saturday evening, along with Angelo Bonello’s Dancers. It will remain on view until July 23.

The new work is a ’Third Luminous Paradise,’ ideally connected to all 1,600 installations and events distributed around the world, here created with 16 piles of colored nets (as many as the municipalities of Lake Iseo) crossed and united by a led perimeter outlining the very famous reinterpretation of the mathematical sign of Infinity created by the great Piedmontese artist. The effect, seen from above, is that of a new constellation, which at its center sees an olive branch, recalling on the one hand the 17 “Goals” of Agenda 2030, and on the other that ’preventive peace’ invoked by Pistoletto himself. Next to the Third Energy Paradise stand and move Angelo Bonello’s works: Ballerina Sequence accompanies its vision, Floating Ballerina announces it by moving on the water with specially created background music.

The work is the result of an articulated collaboration between Cittadellarte - Foundation Pistoletto, A2A and the Foundation Banco of energy, the philanthropic organization that supports people in economically and socially vulnerable conditions and implements projects related to combating energy poverty. Angelo Bonello is also the artistic director of the set of new installations in Monte Isola, Fortunato D’Amico is the curator of the Terzo Paradiso dell’Energia in Monte Isola, a project that is not limited to the creative and artistic gesture, but is the bearer of messages and inspirer of actions that feature the entire surrounding area.

The work intends to stage and showcase the grid, one of the Island’s emblems, a symbol of the local craft tradition and current economic district of international significance. It is made with materials of reuse, the nets produced on the island and the LED lights discarded from the Light is Life works, as a sign of infinite rebirth. And with these same materials, once the work is dismantled after July 23, a new work will be created that will remain permanently on Monte Isola, following an Artist Residency that will be coordinated in the coming months by Cittadellarte. An artist will be asked to learn more about local hamlets and materials, followed by a period at Cittadellarte (Biella) to engage with the reality of the Foundation and the work of Michelangelo Pistoletto. The residency will end in Monte Isola to finalize the realization of the work.

The ’physical’ networks also become a metaphor for the interconnectedness that links the fate of the individual to that of the whole society, and that of theman to that of the planet, as well as the cooperation and social networks that the Third Paradise always aspires to trigger, here materialized by a palimpsest of events and concrete actions, united by the common thread of achieving balance between man and nature and cooperation as a generative factor of energy.

Also on Sunday morning, the scenic ’Vogata del Terzo Paradiso,’ a non-competitive ’Rowingof the Third Paradise,’ was held in the stretch of water facing the art installations, aboard canoes and naécc, the typical rowing boats of Lake Iseo. The sporting event is organized in collaboration with the Municipality of Monte Isola and the sailing clubs of Monte Isola and the lakeside municipalities (Iseo, Sarnico, Pisogne, Paratico, Tavernola Bergamasca). Starting from Le Ere locality (between Peschiera Maraglio and Sensole) the 60 participatingboats observed asymbolic route about 500 meters long, in a triple ellipse, tracing the shape of the Third Paradise, to draw attention to the very current issue concerning drought and the management and supply of water reserves. And again as part of the initiatives accompanying Pistoletto’s work, Saturday also saw the inauguration of ’The Third Paradise of Youth,’ placed on the lakefront of Monte Isola, the result of meetings and workshops with the classes of the Istituto Comprensivo L. Einaudi of Monte Isola, raising awareness the students on the importance of energy as an inclusive element, solidarity network, social and environmental care and to the responsible use of resources. This collective work in the shape of the Third Paradise was completed by the children and their families preceding the inauguration of the Third Energy Paradise. The educational activity will continue in the fall, with the start of the 2023-2024 school year, providing meetings and workshop activities in primary and secondary schools in the municipalities of Lake Iseo.

According to Michelangelo Pistoletto, “the Third Paradise of Energy in Monte Isola is an emblematic case of how Contemporary Art - according to what we design and experiment with at Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto ONLUS - is not limited to generating projects, installations and artistic performances, but can and must contribute to social change and innovation. On these principles, we immediately found ourselves in tune with A2A and the Energy Bank, the protagonist of the important mission of combating energy poverty. So in Monte Isola and Lake Iseo we have activated Educational Laboratories for schools on this theme - in schools young people must become aware of their active role in society; we have started an Energy Community path that will involve some municipalities of Lake d’Iseo; we plan an intervention of ’artist residency’ that using the materials discarded by the main work will leave creative traces on the Island also for the future; we will organize meetings that will involve urban and cultural operators of the territories of Brescia and Bergamo. This is the change we are working for with the Third Paradise projects, in Italy and abroad.”

Pistoletto's luminous Third Paradise lights up in Monte Isola on Lake Iseo.

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