Selected as one of the winners at the Made in Roath open exhibition 2014 in Cardiff. Selected by Chris Brown (G39) and Ben Borthwick (formerly Tate, Artes Mundi).
It is believed that McPhallus maintains a mysterious and magical unicorn farm in the north. Contrary to the popular contemporary beliefs that unicorns are the pink and fluffy fodder of young girls, McPhallus keeps this magical livestock in order to harness their phallic power
Unicorns depend upon our imagination. This is where they hunt and raise their young. But our collective imagination is diminishing and we need to protect them and their magical habitat.
The video features a unicorn glove puppet that I’d previously created which has been transported onto a backdrop of the northern lights and starry skies.
Viewers will be presented with a call to action asking for their help in saving the unicorn in return for which they will receive an official certificate of adoption.
The unicorn is an age old symbol of masculinity and fertility and medieval tales of the unicorn tells us that the creature can only be captured by luring it out with a young virgin.
With that in mind I posted an advert in the ‘Personals’ section of Craigslist on behalf of an imaginary sixteen year old girl in the hope of ensnaring a unicorn for myself. I didn’t find a unicorn but instead I received numerous responses from some other horny beasts which I proceeded to turn into cross stitched samplers.
Having received in excess of fifty responses in the first six hours of having posted the advert this project is ongoing.
You can view more of this work and read more about the project on my portfolio website at www.spikedennis.com
I took my inspiration for the patterns from old folk toys and at the back is a very simple jumping jack mechanism.
The film deals with themes relating to death and resurrection – concepts with which the unicorn has long been symbolically associated. I have drawn upon a range of symbolism to reinforce these themes as has been seen in art throughout the ages to create an allegorical film. This includes swans who are often associated with the goddess of death and have been said to act as ‘psychopomps’ – accompanying the souls of the dead to the far northern otherworld. Likewise squirrels were once said to be the ferrymen of dead souls, packing the souls of the dead into the shells of nuts and ferrying them across the River Styx as can be seen in this illustration from a medieval manuscript.
The unicorn is a lunar creature and is represented by the moon whilst the rainbow represents the triple goddess in her death aspect. In Greek mythology Iris was not only a messenger of the gods but also the goddess of the rainbow – a bridge across which she would lead souls from the land of the living to the worlds of the dead.
– “On the island of immortality called “Calypso” the iris was found in the meadows… as a death flower“
The video is designed to be presented on a continuous loop reflecting the cyclical nature of the themes of rebirth and resurrection that it covers.
Runtime: 5 minutes 46 seconds
The hobby horse is inspired by the unicorn as was described by the Greek philosopher Ctesias; who told that ‘among the kingdoms of India there were very swift wild asses with white coats, purple heads, blue eyes, and in the middle of their foreheads a pointed horn whose base was white, whose tip was red, and whose middle was black’.
