Among the aberrations caused by capitalist well-being is the excessive consumption of meat, which causes environmental and health problems. Studies indicate that annual per capita consumption of red meat should be around 30 kg, an amount exceeded by double (Italy) up to almost four times (US) depending on the country. A growing trend that began after World War II and has been encouraged in the past decades.

In 1979, FAO issued a 100 Lire coin in Italy representing a cow suckling its calf and bearing ‘NUTRIRE IL MONDO’ (to feed the world).

The abuse of red meat causes serious health consequences (oncological, respiratory, cardiac) and threatens the ecosystem. In this respect, intensive cattle breeding has a significant impact on methane emissions due to cows’ digestive processes. Aimed at stemming this aspect, devices that cruelly capture methane from cows have been patented rather than reforming the way meat consumption occurs. They include the valve applied directly to the animal’s stomach by making a hole in the abdomen to convey the gas in a plastic tank mounted on the cow’s back and the mask that intercepts its breath, whose start-up has been launched in 2021.

The series of drawings “To Choke the World” denounces how the wicked choices of human beings are suffocating the planet. Images of ancient coins issued in Gela around the fifth century BC, representing a man-headed bull – a mythological figure that combines the mental strength of a man with the physical strength of a bull, which the former appropriates – are transferred to cash books. Then, masks painted in gold are applied to the bulls with a man’s head to denote the longing for unnatural wealth and the urgency to contain it.