Upstate Diary, Issue No. 14: Utopia Underfoot

Nature isn’t what it used to be. What will it be tomorrow? That question feels suddenly, horribly urgent, but it’s by no means new. Some people have been wondering for a long, long time. One of those prophetic figures is Piero Gilardi, an artist based in Turin — the Detroit of Italy, headquarters of Fiat and Alfa Romeo. Eighty this year, he is the founder of Parco Arte Vivende (Living Art Park), situated on the former site of a car parts manufacturer, right next door to a waste-management site. The place is dedicated to the exploration of art, ecology, and biological sciences; environmental philosopher Serenella Iovino has called it “a garden in the ecology of the mind.”