They/Them/Their: Naturally Not Binary is a group exhibition at IMT Galley, London.
The exhibition sought to explore issues related to Queer Ecology, a discipline that articulates nature in terms of non-normative gender and sexuality. Queer ecology has the potential to reconfigure the world by providing new answers to the social and environmental issues we all face.
Queer ecology can thereby be applied as a framework to critique cis-heteronormativity and to explore how queering narrative can help to stave off cultural, political, or ecological destruction.
For this work Alberto Maggini developed a video-performance inspired from Goya’s painting in which Saturn perfectly represents the patriarchal culture that has, for centuries, devoured our land, biodiversity and bodies with the excuse of a supposed superiority of human culture of nature. In Maggini’s view, the rift between humans and nature is what caused the rise of man’s dominance over nature through colonial practices, capitalist economy and patriarchal culture. Through his work Maggini attempts to unpack this “three-headed monster” of contemporary society and offer ways of reconnecting with others and our environment. This work in turn draws from the visual language of advertisement to unpack and critique global capitalism and its never-ending emphasis on consumption. Global capitalism has been responsible for today’s loss of biodiversity, ecological catastrophe and the experience of distancing or isolation that one may experience when they are not in tune with their natural self. Goya’s painting depicts the Greek Titan Saturn as he grotesquely tears apart and devours his own child after Gaea prophesied that one of his children would overthrow him. The fear of losing their position of power is one of the main motivating forces behind colonialism and social exclusion against minorities, and through ‘Crocodile Tears’ Maggini whimsically present the catastrophic results of the toxic need to cling to a false sense of power over others. The title of the work refers to the disingenuous tendency of patriarchal, colonial and capitalist ideologies to seemingly demonstrate their regret for the disasters and tragedies that they have caused, without acknowledging their share of the responsibility. “Crocodile Tears” is a way to say in Italian, but also in English, that “If someone is crying crocodile tears, their tears and sadness are not genuine or sincere.”

BOOKLET