PRESENTATION: Le 3 Ecologie
The artists and collectives who have been invited to take part in the exhibition “Le 3 ecologie”, trace eccentric maps that expand from the Mediterranean to the Pacific and the Arctic; they outline hybrid, dreamed, composite environmental contexts, activating our perception through a series of works (films, installations, paintings, drawings, photographs) in dialogue with one another in the rooms of the Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: MACTE Archive
The title of the exhibition, “Le 3 ecologie”, recalls the essay written in 1989 by French philosopher Félix Guattari, in which he considers three ecologies: environmental, social and mental. The exhibition, conceived and then postponed several times because of the pandemic, gives space to artworks and researches that arise from encounters with territories – both on an aesthetic and social level – and that relativize the nature–culture relationship also on the basis of geographical coordinates. The exhibition unfolds in the whole space of the museum, imagined as an organism, in which people, materials and ideas coexist. “Le 3 ecologie” makes distant places closer, presenting in Termoli artistic visions that navigate the past, the present and future struggles for survival. Matilde Cassani installs a parasol curtain in the museum entrance in order to soften the strong solar glare that blinds visitors and the museum staff. Tusalava, the animation created by Len Lye in 1929, outlines the beginnings of life from cells to complex organisms, envisioning a dance of creation inspired by the mythology of the Pacific islands. Micha Zweifel sets the pace of a time of work and manual skills with the carved plaster panels of Calendar, installed in a radial pattern in the central hall of MACTE. In the middle of the room, “Ipogea” (2010), a sculpture in polyurethane foam created by Piero Gilardi, takes us into a cave where a river flows. Dandelions and other bushes fill the wallpaper digitally created by Francesco Simeti from archive samples; covering the walls of one of the museum’s room, the wallpaper brings to attention plants that were left in the background in the history of art. Two synchronized carousel slide projectors show images of bodies of water patiently collected by Simeti from the pages of the New York Times, the newspaper printed in the city where he lives. Nicola Toffolini makes naturalistic drawings characterized by technical virtuosity and hypertrophic signs, and pictures solitary palm trees defended by breakwaters against the backdrop of climate change, or a post-human island floating in the air with roots that look like tentacles redolent of Miyazaki films. “Whutarr, Saltwater Dreams” a video work by Karrabing Film Collective, takes us to the Northern Territories, where Indigenous communities try to live in harmony with bodies of water, despite oppressive control by Australian authorities. Jumana Manna’s documentary “Wild Relatives” follows the route of farming seeds from Syria to Norway, and travels through climatic and survival challenges caused by hostile seasons and adverse socio-economic conditions. Francis Offman’s paintings activate a cycle of reuse: the Rwandan artist mixes and layers different materials such as coffee grounds, Bologna chalk and chestnut paper, according to a technique that he has patiently improved, in the footsteps of people migrating to different continents. Jonatah Manno uses objects and remains the sea returns as an impulse for his works, approaching the beach as a site of collection and inspiration; two cyanotypes and resin sculptures that encapsulate seascapes are included in the exhibition. Silvia Mariotti worked on Boutade photographic series while confined at home during the lockdown, when she was unable to travel and shoot outdoors, as she is used to do; she decided to open her archive of photographs to build a place that is a sum of other places, between reality and imagination. The works included in the exhibition dialogue with a selection of pieces from the Premio Termoli Collection, specifically chosen and displayed in the rooms of the museum.
Participating Artists: Matilde Cassani, Piero Gilardi, Karrabing Film Collective, Len Lye, Jumana Manna, Jonatah Manno, Silvia Mariotti, Francis Offman, Francesco Simeti, Nicola Toffolini, Micha Zweifel
Photo: Silvia Mariotti, Boutade #4, 2021, Installation view “Le 3 Ecologie”, MACTE-Termoli, 2022, Photo: Gianluca Di Ioia, Courtesy MACTE (Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli)
Info: Curator: Caterina Riva, Assistant Curator: Marta Federici, MACTE (Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli), via Giappone snc, Termoli, Italy, Duration: 5/2-15/5/2022, Days & Hours: Wed-Sun 10:00-13:00, & 15:00-19:00, https://www.fondazionemacte.com/en
