Terzo Paradiso — Economy

What is the Third Paradise?

It is the fusion between the first and second paradise. The first is the paradise in which humans were fully integrated into nature. The second is the artificial paradise, developed by human intelligence to globalizing proportions through science and technology. This paradise is made of artificial needs, artificial products, artificial comforts, artificial pleasures, and every other form of artifice. Humankind has created a truly artificial world which has triggered, in an exponential manner and in parallel with beneficial effects, irreversible processes of decline and consumption of the natural world. The Third Paradise is the third phase of humanity, realized as a balanced connection between artifice and nature.

The Third Paradise is the passage to a new level of planetary civilization, essential to ensure the survival of the human race. To this purpose we first of all need to re-form the principles and the ethical behaviors guiding our common life.

The Third Paradise is the great myth that leads everyone to take personal responsibility in the global vision.  

The term “paradise” comes from the Ancient Persian and means “protected garden.” We are the gardeners who must protect this planet and heal the human society inhabiting it.The symbol of the Third Paradise, a reconfiguration of the mathematical infinity sign, is made of three consecutive circles. The two external circles represent all the diversities and antinomies, among which nature and artifice. The central one is given by the compenetration of the opposite circles and represents the generative womb of a new humanity.

—Michelangelo Pistoletto, 2003

MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO
Terzo Paradiso
2020
Wrapped fabric
49 3/16 x 98 7/16 x 7 7/8 inches (125 x 250 x 20 cm)