Every form of art is the result of a complex synthesis aimed at capturing and expressing the indivisible element—an emotion, a state of mind.
The graffiti etched onto cave walls by primitive humans represent the earliest form of communication, conveying not only emotions but also information.
The evolution of the species led to a separation between emotions and information. Modern humans distinguish between art and information, despite using the same means—image, sound, and writing. This division took place during the Industrial Revolution, driven by the belief that it was possible to intimately understand and thus dominate the laws of nature. This conviction created the need to separate the act of transmitting an emotion from that of conveying information, in order to observe nature rather than be a part of it.
Undoubtedly, this choice has propelled human evolution forward by millennia, leading to the realization that while our brain can comprehend the laws of nature, it lacks the computational power to fully harness them for our needs. That is why we have built machines to do it for us. The electronic computer—an emotionless entity that feeds on energy and information to produce further information, known as results.
The first result is that the changes we have inflicted on our environment now threaten our very existence. The second result is that our survival depends on a return to the past—to an era in which our consumption of natural resources was in harmony with the life of the planet. We remain an integral part of it only if we experience and perceive it with the same eyes and emotions as primitive humans. Otherwise, we become the asteroid—hurled from the abyss of a reckless mind—colliding with Mother Earth and sealing the fate of human extinction.
Art, as a generator of emotions, is the means by which we can reconnect with our Mother Earth, and this exhibition—set in a natural site of extraordinary beauty—offers visitors this very opportunity. As former Cultural Commissioner, I am honored to contribute to the realization of this event, and I extend my gratitude to Grotte di Castellana S.r.l. for promoting this initiative and to the artist Andrea Benetti, creator of Neo-Cave painting, whose work enhances the significance of our karst heritage.