La miniera d’asbesto di Balangero

Autore: Gilda Genghini

CV: Bachelor’s degree from the Two-Year Specialized Program at the School of Decoration, Public Art specialization.

Tutor: Monica Saccomandi

La miniera d’asbesto di Balangero

The open-pit stepped mine is ideally formed by the rocks of the three most common and dangerous types of asbestos for health; the natural pond is replaced by a CT scan image showing mesothelioma and asbestosis; underneath the surrounding ground lies the factory. The dust cited by Italo Calvino is composed of asbestos particles lodged in workers’ lungs and observed under an electron scanning microscope.

The representation causally links asbestos with mesothelioma/asbestosis.

It aims to evoke in the viewer the infernal circles of the quarry and the death that awaits following continuous exposure to asbestos dust, which burns the lungs.