Operation Unicorn

My unicorn obsession has instigated many stunning journeys. Unicorn thinking, to me, means surprise, adventure, magic, purity (a difficult term), risk, depth, courage, borderlands, transcendence, queerness, transformation, liminality, femininity (another tough one), vulnerability, intimacy (maybe the toughest!), ecstasy … and more!

Poems

Did you know that four thousand years ago, the Indus Valley civilization was home to the world’s earliest images of one-horned equines? Yes, unicorns are South Asian!

I’m delving into the connection between ancient and contemporary ideas of unicorns, with guides as diverse as Aristotle, Jean Genet, Audre Lorde, and Lady Gaga.

A taste of my unicorn thinking
thus far:

Poem in Granta | Operation Unicorn: Field Report

Folio in SPECS Journal | Four Unicorn Poems

Poem in Stone Telling Journal | The Unicorn at the Racetrack

Poem in Devilfish Review | Unicorns for Dummies

Interview | Stone Telling journal

My blog posts about unicorns

My unicorn gallery on Pinterest

My unicorn collection on YouTube

Please, send me unicorn links!

On the set of "Between the Waves" by Tejal Shah“mock-serious pseudo-mythological videos involving two women wearing unicorn horns”

—New York Times

 

aHarappaUnicorn

 

Film Collaboration

My unicorn research guided me and the artist Tejal Shah to Dholavira, an archaeological site in India where hundreds of ancient unicorn images have been unearthed. One outcome was her five-channel video installation, which debuted at Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany, in 2012. I wrote the text and performed in the project:

 

“poems reminiscent of modernists like Mina Loy or HD…”
Idiom magazine

You can check out Shah’s wondrous vision on the “Between the Waves” web page.

Thank You, Unicorns!

Many thanks to design unicorn Kim Mason of Oakland, who created the beautiful image as well as the font and color palette for this website.The three-headed unicorn on my homepage is inspired by artifacts including this and this.