Takashima Megumi | KYOTO EXPERIMENT Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival 2025 ⑦ Martha Luisa Hernandez Cadenas 'I Am Not a Unicorn' (Part 2)
This article analyzes the second part of Martha Luisa Hernandez Cadenas's performance, exploring contradictions within negation and affirming life within a community.Summary
This article is a critique of the second part of Martha Luisa Hernandez Cadenas's performance, "I Am Not a Unicorn," presented at KYOTO EXPERIMENT. It delves into the polysemy of props introduced in the first part: the "Unicorn Mask" as a restraint and the "Life Buoy" as a life-saving device, questioning how one can live affirmatively within the "Unicorn Community," a sanctuary for those who have departed from heteronormative patriarchy. The work draws inspiration from early performances by Rebecca Horn, suggesting the horn on the forehead becomes a pencil for writing words of resistance and solidarity, leading to the reclamation of one's own life through "being a unicorn." The life buoy symbolizes resurfacing from suffocation, giving substance to marginalized existence, while the mask signifies the obscuring of individual faces by attributes and the silencing of voices. Finally, referencing Isadora Neves Marques's work, the text posits that the phrase "I Am Not a Unicorn" resists being confined to an imaginary monster and seeks liberation from singular identity, ultimately revealing the fundamental power of "being a unicorn" amidst irreconcilable contradictions.
(Source：artscape)