358-373 ADALBERTO GIAZOTTO / CRYSTALLOGRAPHY

[...LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE / IS UBIQUITOUS; AS SOON AS CHEMICAL CONDITIONS BECOME ACCEPTABLE, LIFE GROWS. & WITH BILLIONS & BILLIONS OF STARS WITH PLANETS, LIFE IS A MUST. MAYBE WE COULD INTERCEPT SOME RADIO SIGNAL FROM SOMEWHERE & THIS WILL LEAD TO THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA FOR US, BUT THERE IS NO HOPE TO MEET THEM. THE ONLY WAY IS TO BREAK ANOTHER DAMNATION— THE SPEED OF LIGHT. TILL NOW THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING GOING FASTER THAN LIGHT. I AM SORRY, BUT NATURE IS VERY MALICIOUS… WHO KNOWS?

PRESENT MOMENT / I AM CONVINCED WE ARE PASSING THROUGH A MARVELLOUS CULTURAL PERIOD & THAT THERE IS NOT A CULTURAL DECLINE ON SUBSTANCE. EVEN IF I LIKE TV VERY MUCH FOR FILMS & DOCUMENTARY, I THINK THE AVERAGE TV ENTERS HOMES IN AN INTOLERABLE WAY, WHERE EVERY IMAGE OR WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE DEVICE IS JUST TRYING TO GET YOUR MONEY. TV SHOULD ONLY HAVE AN EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE. IF IT IS NOT WELL DIRECTED, IT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO CULTURAL DECAY. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN THE INFORMATION ERA, CONSEQUENTLY THEIR FRAME OF REFERENCE IS MUCH WIDER THAN OURS. IT IS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT THEY ARE NOT SO INTERESTED IN OLDER THINGS. IN MY EXPERIENCE, YOUNG PEOPLE ARE AS BRILLIANT & INVOLVED AS WE WERE; THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US & THEM IS THAT, IN OUR CASE DUE TO THE WAR, WE HAD TO BUILD UP OUR TOYS— PERHAPS WE WERE MORE EXCITED BY THE FANTASY.

[...]

BILLIONS OF YEARS CONTAINED IN A PIECE / THIS IS THE MOST RELEVANT & ATTRACTIVE ASPECT OF CRYSTALS; IN MY COLLECTION THERE IS A GREEN BERYL CRYSTAL FROM VOLYNSKY IN UKRAINE— ABOUT 30CM TALL, TRANSPARENT, BEAUTIFUL, & PERFECT. THIS CRYSTAL IS 1.7 BILLION YEARS OLD. IN FRONT OF THIS NUMBER I LOSE MY PERSPECTIVE. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I AM TOUCHING AN OBJECT SO OLD, STILL INTACT— & HOW LONG WILL IT REMAIN INTACT NOW THAT IT IS NOT PROTECTED BY THE EARTH ANYMORE? I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT BUT I FEEL LOST IN FRONT OF THIS REALITY. A STONE TOO CAN BE OLD BUT IT HAS NO VALUE, EVEN IF IT IS THE SAME AGE AS THE BERYL. PROBABLY THE FACT THAT THIS CRYSTAL DEFEATED CHAOS GIVES US, UNCONSCIOUSLY, A STRANGE KIND OF HOPE.]


/ EXCERPT FROM A TEXT BASED ON A CONVERSATION BETWEEN ADALBERTO GIAZOTTO, MONIKA BIELSKYTE, & RUFUS KNIGHT













/ A SELECTION OF RARE MINERALS FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF ADALBERTO GIAZOTTO PHOTOGRAPHED BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE IN HIS HOME IN TUSCANY, MAY 2011.

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