Alec Finlay describes the work: “The bynames shown here are imagined names for real people. They suggest the self that lies behind ourself concealed. Bynames that we conjure for others are reinventions, generated by love or hate; the bynames that we take for ourselves are masks…… Most of the bynames here are new compositions. A fair number are my own invention; others were written in response to my open invitation. In their arrangements and the affinities that they discover they are poems.”
Also showing is a selection of images from The Archive of Wind Blown Clouds. This archive has been built up from submissions from across the globe. Each participant is invited, by postcard, to submit photographic slides of a wind blown clouds. The slide must come to the archive with note of the date and place of photography. This archive then builds up an ever-changing photographic map of the sky.
Colin Greenslade, Exhibitions Coordinator for the Royal Scottish Academy says “ We are very excited to be presenting Alec Finlay during the Edinburgh Festival. This is the first in an on-going series looking at how artists formulate new ideas and create new works in a diverse range of media. The work in the show will give visitors the opportunity to be part of the process, it encourages them to participate and become a small part of a much larger development. Bynames is a really fun project…. think of your favourite artist or writer, put their name into a spell checker, use rhyming words, think laterally, come up with a cheeky, witty alternative and send it in. Wind Blown Clouds is a simple yet fantastic idea. Everyone has a camera. Everyone has access to the sky. Every sky-scape is different. The global nature of the project has endless possibilities. Alec tells me that one of the most prolific contributors to this project is an eight-year-old girl from Punto del Este in Uruguay. This project crosses borders, age groups and abilities. Contributions come from people whose countries are in conflict and from countries where there is peace….. I know that people will enjoy the exhibition, my hope is that they feel they want to get involved.”
For this exhibition, Alec has published new Bynames and Wind Blown Cloud postcards sponsored by The Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy. Inviting the public to contribute to an ongoing archive, he suggests that Bynames for artists and writers can be invented using technology (spell check), chance methods or through application of natural genius! The Wind Blown Cloud card, featuring an image by Guy Moreton, encourages visitors to participate and to forward them on to friends abroad. The resulting slides will become part of the archive and a selection will be used in a future Anthology of Wind Blown Clouds.
To compliment the exhibition there will be a selection of vintage handkerchiefs with Bynames and Your Name Here labels available for sale. Accompanied by a selection of book works.
Founder of Morning Star press; the force behind the successful ‘pocketbooks’ series; residencies with BALTIC, Gateshead and work on projects such as Glasgow’s Hidden Garden, have all reinforced Alec Finlay’s reputation as a mainstay of quality contemporary practise in the UK. Alec<
Web Link: http://www.royalscottishacademy.org/pages/exhibition_frame.asp?id=79
