FOSA: Exploring the Limits of Trans Fear
In this piece, my aim was to explore the boundaries of my own fear of violence as a non-binary trans body, while lovingly held and witnessed by an intimate group of my community members in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México. Diving into what it felt like to carry an awareness of necropolitical violence for myself and my communities, I went deep into a mountainous and rocky area of San Cristóbal. Once, there, I took a strong sedative and, donning a chastity belt and a bound chest, I positioned myself "at rest." Animal viscera were dropped over me. I remained there in silence, with my friends witnessing and protecting, until I came back to semi-consciousness. Then, on shaky feet, I was accompanied out and back home.
This physically and psychologically durational performance piece went to the limits of fear to arrive at the other side. I find inspiration in the work of Regina José Galindo and Carlos Martiel. All images by Moysés Zuñiga Santiago