An interview with curator Phil Mer

It often happens that revelations (or insights) come about through an encounter with the unexpected which immediately strikes the senses. Such a sensorial short circuit may well best describe the experience provoked by certain forms of art which, despite being based on complex and well expressed thoughts, trigger a powerful, often alienating and spectacular emotional experience, even before leading to reflection.

Terzo Paradiso by Michelangelo Pistoletto, the large land art installation located amidst the peaks of Alta Badia in Colfosco, is a work that should deservedly be counted among these.

From a distance, it catches the eye thanks to its bright red architecture created from the wood of trees devastated by Storm Vaia, which contrasts with the greens, blues and browns of nature while from close up, it invites people to enter its “portals,” either dynamically or (ec)statically and then let themselves be entranced by its mysterious shape: the triple ellipse, reminiscent of the mathematical symbol for infinity, with the addition of a third, larger central circle: the Third Paradise.

This evocative work was inaugurated on July 11th 2025, during the 7th edition of SMACH – an international art biennial for the general public based in Val Badia. Today, it can be admired in the Plans area of Colfosco at the foot of the Gardena Pass, near the Sella massif. The work is easily accessible via a pedestrian and cycle path and can also be seen from above by those crossing the Pass, climbers on the Via Ferrata Tridentina and passengers using the Plans Frara cable car. The installation sits in a large meadow made available by the Mersa family, natives of the area.

But how did Pistoletto’s work get here, in the mountains of Alta Badia?

Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella 1933) is one of Italy’s leading artists and one who has been active on the international scene since the 1960s. Among his many projects, mention must be made of the Quadri specchianti or Mirror Paintings, with which he achieved widespread recognition in 1962 through participation in international Pop Art exhibitions. Then there is Plexiglass (1964), which ushered in the era of Conceptual Art, while from 1965-1966 there are the Oggetti in meno or Minus Objects, considered fundamental to the birth of Arte Povera. In Biella in the 1990s he founded Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, with the aim of establishing art in an active relationship with the social fabric in order to inspire and bring about responsible social transformation while in 2003, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale, followed in 2024 with the presentation of Terzo Paradiso. Other major international awards and prestigious exhibitions followed, including a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris in 2013, and his recent nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. In addition his works can be found in the collections of numerous leading modern and contemporary art museums.

Terzo Paradiso is thus not a recent work, but rather a cornerstone of the artist’s artistic oeuvre. It could be described as a traveling work that, from 2003/2004 onwards, has found a home in a number of contexts and different settings, ranging from the Louvre Pyramid to the Terme di Caracalla, the UN building in Washington, the Verona Arena and many other places. It is a work that over time has sought to embody an active and proactive vision of art in society, as a tool for awareness and transformation, capable of stimulating individual and collective responsibility in the promotion of a renewed ecological and social consciousness.

In the installation, the circle symbolizing the Third Paradise is located at the centre of the triple ellipse, between two other dimensions (and circles), which represent a synthesis of the following two opposing conditions: the first paradise, symbolizing the original harmony between humans and nature, and the second paradise, the product of the artificial world created by human ingenuity, a source of progress, but also of ecological and social imbalances. The Third Paradise then, in the artist’s view, exists as a third way, a space of active coexistence and regeneration, in which these polarities can interact in order to generate sustainability.

There are two curators behind the scenes of the venture: the Italian designer and curator Sandro Orlandi Stagl, and Phil Mer, born Philipp Mersa, a multi-instrumentalist, one of the most interesting drummers on the Italian music scene, composer, art historian, curator and collector originally from Colfosco. The project was made possible thanks to coordination by the SMACH Cultural Hub, with the support of the Pistoletto Foundation and Paolo Mozzo of ARTantide Gallery. Other key players in the project’s implementation included Impianti Colfosco as technical partner; the sponsor, the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation; and the volunteers of the SMACH cultural association, supported by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and the Autonomous Region of Trentino-Alto Adige. But let me now turn to Phil Mer, who will tell us about his experience as a dedicated and enthusiastic curator of this Third Paradise, which thanks to him —as we’ll discover—found such a spectacular home in Colfosco.

MQ Third Paradise is an iconic work by Pistoletto that has travelled the world. How did the idea of installing it permanently in Colfosco come about?

PM Thanks to my friend Enrico Garnero, a few years ago I met ARTantide’s Paolo Mozzo, who is a Verona art gallery owner and ambassador for Pistoletto’s Third Paradise installations. Paolo was looking for a partner with experience in the mountains to help him lay his hands on what we call “Vaia wood”, which is timber collected from the dozens of hectares of forest destroyed in the terrible 2018 storm, and with which he hoped to build the work. The initial plan was for this Third Paradise to be curated by Sandro Orlandi Stagl and to be installed first in Alta Badia and then housed for a few months at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. However, Papal approval never arrived, so as a counter proposal I suggested building the work in Alta Badia and finding a location there, where it could then be installed temporarily or permanently. I immediately found people who were enthusiastic about the idea: two in particular, my fellow countryman and councillor Daniel Alfreider and the then mayor of Corvara Robert Rottonara, although it wasn’t easy raising the necessary funds to create the project from scratch. However, what proved decisive was the meeting with the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano, through Ermi Zoldan and Francesca Pasquali. Months of intense work followed, in which we obtained approval from the Environmental and Landscape Heritage Authority to install the work. It wasn’t easy to convince the commission that rather than deface the agricultural meadow, we were going to enhance it. After three rejections, just when we were about to throw in the towel, the yes came, thanks to the intercession of the Ladin Museum and the MAXXI in Rome, who supported us in highlighting the historical and cultural importance of a world-renowned artist like Michelangelo Pistoletto, a character who is already present in art history books.

MQ How did you identify the location and what features does it have?

PM I should say that to all intents and purposes, the meadow was right in our back garden! After days and days of reflection and research for the most suitable location, I discovered that my father, Giorgio Mersa, owns a meadow on the Gardena Pass. We went and looked at it together and something just clicked! The location is perfect, immersed in a picturesque natural setting near the forest, at the foot of the Sella Group, yet just a few dozen meters from the Frara cable car station, which is part of the Sellaronda ski circuit. The cable car literally hovers over the installation, allowing a bird’s-eye view, necessary to grasp its shape. The ski slope passes next to the meadow, which is easily accessible by car, on foot or by bike, which means that people can walk through and around it. This location helps us understand the meaning of the work, in the context of a harmonious fusion between Nature and artifice, with the forest on one side and the ski lift on the other.

MQ The Third Paradise was inaugurated during the 7th edition of SMACH - Public Art Biennial 2025. How does this piece relate to the projects developed by SMACH over time?

PM I’ve known about SMACH for years, and recently, thanks to the invitation by President Michael Moling, I was invited to join. I believe they do extraordinary, fresh and innovative work aimed at bringing art, culture and beauty to Alta Badia, a valley that has traditionally relied on winter tourism and nature, with precious few significant cultural offerings. When it came to finding partners for the installation, I immediately knocked on SMACH’s door and since then, we’ve worked closely together. I honestly believe that without their extensive experience in coordinating the project in the area, we would have had real problems. I like the idea that a map of Landart  in the valley is gradually being created, and that visitors are encouraged to travel from the Valle dell’Arte to San Martino, where works from the Biennale are permanently exhibited, or to Colfosco, where they’ll find Pistoletto’s installation, or, during the Biennale, to explore the woods in search of works by young artists from around the world. In terms of age and historical importance, Pistoletto could be considered a mentor.

MQ To date, what feedback has the Third Paradise received from visitors, both local and otherwise?

PM As often happens with contemporary art, many residents and tourists were surprised, yet intrigued by what they didn’t know and perhaps didn’t fully understand at first glance. However, thanks to the informational material provided by SMACH, Pistoletto’s video, and a series of press articles, the value and significance of the work have been made available to a much wider public and is better recognized and in fact, a number of tourists have been left speechless by the power and beauty of the contrast between the large red portals and the surrounding natural paradise. I’m particularly curious to see how the public will interact with the work in the winter: the feedback from skiers passing by, the reactions of those taking the ski lifts…

MQ Phil, what fascinated you most about your curatorial work and the work itself, especially in light of the current historical moment?

PM The work should certainly make us reflect on the Nature/artifice relationship. Colfosco is still a little corner of paradise, but problems loom here too, from melting glaciers to global warming, from the uncertainty of future snowfall to pollution from cars and motorcycles on the mountain passes... All of this should remind us of how precarious yet vital the balance between humanity and Nature is, spurring us to tangibly create a “Third Paradise” in which these opposites can coexist.