THE LORE OF THE UNICORN
AFTER THE CAPTURE

[2018]
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY


“The Lore of the Unicorn, After the Capture” is a digital photography project whichmoves between the lines of fictional narrative and photographic documentary.

The two reference points of the project are, the medieval tapestries “The Hunt of the Unicorn” (1495 - 1505) and  August Sanders “Face of our Time” (1929).

My starting point is a christian representation of the myth: the medieval tapestries “The Hunt of the Unicorn” (1495 - 1505) which depict the hunt, captivation and killing of the mythical creature. In “The Lore of the Unicorn, After the Capture”, I continue the lore after the capture and killing of the mythical creature. 

In order to view anew the myth and link it with my current social world, I created an object (the dead Unicorns’ head) which I incorporated into a typological photographic documentation of contemporary Athenian society. This typology, is a reference to the work of the photographer August Sander (1876 –1964), Face of our Time (1929) which consisted of 60 portraits of people living in Weimar Republic.


The Myth

Regardless the various meanings given to the lore from antiquity until now, the Unicorn is widely known as an uneasy creature, difficult to captivate due to its ability to change shapes. In these lines, the mythical beast is seen as a symbol of constant flux, power and autonomy.

The Object

The central object created for the project is composed by a skinned lambs head with an ancient Greek column miniature nailed on its forehead. The skinned Lamb connotes a symbolic relation to Christianity (a core element of Greek national narrative) while the Unicorn’s horn that, according to the myth gave to the creature its ability to change shapes appear replaced with an Ionic order column miniature, bought from a touristic shop in Athens.  The replacement of the horn with the column signifies the (imposed) conversion from a living being in constant flux to a stable relic with given form and meanings.

Portraits

The portraits depict citizens living in Athens, varied in gender, religion, ethnicity and occupation, holding the altered head of the dead unicorn. The portraits aim to partially illustrate the relationship between an official narrative of a western nation-state such as Greece and the various identities situated in it.

The Lore of the Unicorn, After the Capture has been presented in the group exhibitions  “ Babel Revisited”, curated by Alexis Fidetzis and “Probably Wonderful?”, curated by George Georgakopoulos.