Pájaro Muerto (2021)
Performance. Dead parrot, triangular marble pedestal, duration. Digital C-print. 4 x 3 ft.
pájaro m (plural pájaros)
bird (usually a small bird capable of flying; a prototypical bird)
(Dominican Republic, Cuba, slang) homosexual
(colloquial, Spain) person of questionable or shady character, or involved in dubious affairs.
Pájaro Muerto, 2021, is a durational performance interrogating queer life through the figurations of el pájaro. I lie on the ground, in fetal position, hugging a triangular white marble pedestal with a dead bird laying on top. My ringneck parrot, Habana, unexpectedly died on August 31, found laying at the bottom of their cage early in the morning. I stage my body adjacent to a pájaro’s lifeless body to contemplate the proximity of queer life to grief, loss, death, and dying. This piece uses the figure of an animal to contest a condition of being queer and Cuban.
Pájaro, by slang definition, is synonymous to “faggot” and is used in Spanish speaking Caribbean countries as a word to identify gay men. More specifically, it is a name that sexually minoritized people are called because of feminine gendered markers. Especially trans femmes and femmes, assigned male at birth, who’s affectation and presence of feminine gestures are visible.
