Michelangelo Pistoletto at 93: Mirror, Truth, and the Third Paradise

On his 93rd birthday, Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella, 1933) gives an interview reflecting on truth, ego, and art as social transformation. He argues the mirror does not lie unless deformed, but humans deform truth through imagination. The greatest lie is seeing the mirror as individualistic speculation rather than infinite profile. Ego is fundamental; altruism is the highest egoism. The Third Paradise symbol (three circles from the mathematical infinity sign) represents the union of nature and artifice to generate something new. Demopraxia is the practical system to realize democracy, starting from the smallest unit of two people. At Cittadellarte (founded 1994 in Biella's former Lanificio Trombetta), he develops a laboratory of democracy. Love Difference proposes an inter-Mediterranean cultural parliament. On AI, he sees it as a form of survival—projecting the self into a new system. He recalls refusing to become an American brand, returning to Turin to make Oggetti in meno, which led to Arte Povera. The interview was conducted by Antonino La Vela.