Books
L'incantesimo dell'equilibrio
A collection of the main sculptures by Gianluigi Pistone.
72 Pages
Stone balance is an artistic expression, a mental discipline, a game and much more.
It consists in balancing the stones without any support or artifice (glues, nails, etc ...) if not the balance itself and the force of gravity.
This exercise has very ancient origins, it was practiced by Zen monks as a meditation practice.
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From the first approaches, anyone can realizes the exchange of energy between the balancer and the stones themselves and the beneficial effect that derives from them.
Balancing stones requires concentration, patience, humility, research; in return you receive satisfaction, mental relaxation, aesthetic fulfillment, true joy.
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The stone balance, in addition to being a fundamentally playful activity for me, is the bearer of very deep meanings as a metaphor for the impermanence of life, a fundamental concept of many philosophies and religions.
In fact, building sculptures in precarious balance, aware of their ephemeral character, makes them more aware of the transience of life itself, of the importance of living intensely and with gratitude every moment.
The time it takes to build precarious, beautiful and extreme balances is inversely proportional to how much the sculptures remain standing: a few seconds or minutes, sometimes you don't even have time to photograph them because they collapse earlier.
When the balancer manages to achieve the balance, he feels a sort of inner peace, difficult to describe, a profound harmony with nature, relaxation.
For many people it is a true anti-stress preventive therapy.
This form of creative artistic expression is part of the more general land art.
In recent years artistic movements born all over the world have promoted the spread of the stone balance.
The scultures are created on beaches, sea cliffs, streams, rivers and wherever there are suitable stones, where immersion and interaction with nature are possible, in silence and in the estrangement from the flowing of time, to favor concentration and artistic creation.
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