Stone Talk
by Athar Jaber | 13 July 2025
The Language of Stones
This week I came across The Language of Stones, a remarkable essay by André Breton. It’s a surrealist meditation on stones as bearers of mystery and meaning. The essay blends surrealist thought, esoteric traditions, and autobiographical episodes to explore the symbolic and psychological power of stones. Breton uses stones as a metaphor for the unconscious, for memory, for poetry, and for a hidden layer of reality that resists rational explanation. For those of us who carve, hold, or simply notice stones, it’s a beautiful reminder of their strange, silent power.
A warm thanks to my friend Nabil Salih for pointing me to the text. And by the way, Nabil himself is well worth checking out, and following, for his writing and photography.
Half a century of collecting stones
While reading Breton’s text, I kept thinking of Luigi Lineri, the Italian man who has spent over half a century collecting and categorizing thousands of stones from the banks of the Adige River. What began as a humble walk turned into a life’s work—assembling an immense visual archive of stone forms that resemble tools, faces, bones, or ancient symbols. Lineri doesn’t carve or alter them; he simply sees in them the remnants of something primordial, as if the river itself had shaped them with intention. His studio resembles a prehistoric museum curated by intuition rather than science, a kind of visionary mineralogy in its own right. Check out his breathtaking collection here and here.
Also worth checking out is “La Ricerca”, an impressive film that has recently come out documenting Lineri’s visionary quest. Here the short trailer, while if you’re in Italy (or are creative enough to find ways to be digitally there), you can rent or buy the movie here.
The Writing of Stones
Following Breton’s poetic reflections on “visionary mineralogy,” and Luigi Lineri’s lifelong practice of collecting stones, here’s one for the true die-hards: The Writing of Stones by Roger Caillois. The book is a poetic, philosophical, and visual meditation on stones as natural artworks. Objects in which the earth itself seems to have written something. It’s less about geology and more about the metaphysical and aesthetic experience of looking at stones. It’s an ode to their strange beauty and to the human impulse to find meaning where none may have been intended. The book is freely available online here. If reading the full text feels daunting, Marguerite Yourcenar’s introduction to the book and the book’s images offer a compelling entry point on their own, and are well worth the read.
Q&A
Do you have specific question around sculpture and stone carving? Submit your question here below and I’ll do my best to answer it in one of the next Stone Talk Newsletters.
I hope you enjoyed these points and that you learned something new.
Until next week,
Athar
Join the talk
On Sundays, at irregular intervals, I send out Stone Talk, a newsletter where you’ll find tips and recommendations on things I believe are worth watching, listening, reading, visiting or exploring. All related to (stone) sculpture and stone carving.
The newsletter is also a great way to stay updated with my artistic activities such as exhibitions, new works, limited editions, publications, as well as my educational activities such as courses, workshops, lectures, tutorials and much more.
If you wish to subscribe to Stone Talk, please fill in the form.