“ARCANUM” Cyber Gallery
María José Maldonado: 2126
2126
María José Maldonado, constructed by gabbah baya and Natalie Valcourt, 2020.
María José Maldonado (Aquarius) shares excerpts from their novel-in-progress titled “The Last Men On Earth”, which takes place in 2126 in a future where cisgender boys and men have begun to menstruate due to the dwindling human population caused by climate change, disease, and dangerous governments. “The Last Men On Earth” is a coming of age story set in Queens, NY and follows the life of a newly menstruating seventeen-year-old Salvadoran-American boy named Benicio “Beni” Torres. Within Maldonado’s digital dreamscape, you embark upon a treasure hunt, to find and collect the lost pages of "The Last Men on Earth". Click on the rose in the sky to get started. Are you ready see what is sprouting in 2126?
María José Maldonado organized two time-based events for “ARCANUM.” On December 3, 2020, Queer|Art|Mentorship Literature Fellows Raja Feather Kelly, María José Maldonado, and Sarah Zapata held “Lit Chat!”, an event over Zoom featuring intimate portraits of each writer, their work and their process (recorded here). On December 10, 2020, Maldonado hosts a live reading of their novel over Zoom (RSVP here), followed by a conversation with their Queer|Art Mentor Charles Rice-Gonzalez, award-winning author of the seminal novel “Chulito,” the first published novel about a gay Puerto Rican experience in New York City.
The artworks in this gallery can be viewed within a playable video game, an immerse dreamscape constructed by gabbah baya and Natalie Valcourt, with an audio score by HiFadility.
Please note that this game is not compatible with Safari, or mobile phones. It is best played on a desktop (Mac or PC) using Chrome or Firefox.
“The Last Men On Earth” novel excerpt: The Blood
“Red and wet. He looked down at his stark white boxer briefs as he stood in front of the toilet, the elastic band hugging his thighs. Yes, red and wet—a crimson stain, or as the female news anchors and pundits called it, ‘Uncle FlowJoe’ had finally arrived for seventeen-year-old Benicio.
It was finally here and he wondered if he should shout for his dad to break the news to him. Papi had got his at fourteen. Mijo, you’re a man now! is what he would probably say, laughing and squeezing Beni’s shoulder. But no, Beni decided to wait until dinner to tell everyone. He would play it cool, do it matter-of-factly while asking his teenage sister Genesis to scrape some concón onto his plate. No biggie.
Beni did the ceremonial pee shake. And like any teenager coming of age, he looked at himself in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Except this time, he was looking at a dique ‘man.’ Before he could get in a staring contest with his new self, he felt a quick, tingly vibration in his genitals. I better get a Manpon, he thought to himself as he bent down carefully, his thighs closed together, and opened the cabinet under the sink. He immediately found the bright blue box with the words ‘Male Absorption Aids.’
Prra prra prra. Genesis knocked on the bathroom door. ‘Dinner’s ready!’ She cooked dinner on Tuesdays. Mom on weekends. Dad on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Benicio on Mondays. On Fridays they dined out. And every Sunday morning after breakfast, they cleaned the house together for two hours energized by salsa music and cafecito.
‘Ok, ya voy!’ Beni shouted as he took a Manpon out of the box.
He ripped open the black paper wrapping. That’s it? He thought to himself, looking at the tiny tampon. The Manpon comprised two pinky-sized white cardboard cylinders, one inserted into the other. It had a cotton tampon head stuffed on one end, to soak up the blood, and a cotton string hanging out the other end, to pull on like a wet leash and discard. He put the seemingly weightless little white Manpon up to his nostrils and sniffed.
It smelled weird, almost spicy, like burnt wood and oranges. Benicio looked at the Manpon box. ‘Manpons! The #1 trusted masculine hygiene product for all your manly flows! In New Smokey Oak and Citrus Scent! Bonus: Free Douche Inside! 100% Made In The USA. Try our other Manpon scents! Original Musk, Musky Vanilla, Cedarwood and Pineapple, Leathery Lemon, Zesty Talc, Patchouli Fog, Stormy Sandalwood, Misty Lime...’”
Above: María José Maldonado, Manpon Box, Graphic illustration, 2020. Illustrated by Daisy Ruiz
ABOUT MARÍA JOSÉ MALDONADO
Image by Lola Flash for the 2019 Queer|Art Community Portrait Project
María José Maldonado is a Salvadoran-Ecuadorian queer writer, creator, performer, and comedian from Queens, NY. Her work explores queerness, resistance, and anger through speculative fiction, poetry, and comedic performance. Her writing has been featured on Autostraddle and she has performed at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, Center for Book Arts, Settlement University, and Dixon Place. Currently, she’s working on her novel set in New York City about a queer Latinx woman who becomes a lovable serial killer of cisgender men. She’s a graduate of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art’s “Creative Writing from Queer Resistance” workshop, is a co-founder of “Streaks of Lavender” zine, and is launching a podcast focusing on women, trans and nonbinary folx’s rage called “I Killed A Man” in Fall 2019.