Glasgow School of Art Friday Event Lecture: Alec Finlay

Please note - artist Oraib Toukan was originally scheduled to deliver this lecture; however due to illness she is unable to attend. Writer, artist and fellow exhibitor in The Shock of Victory Alec Finlay will give the lecture instead, focusing on his new work, a better tale to tell, and his artistic practice.

Artist and poet Alec Finlay is the 'author' of a new work entitled a better tale to tell. This found poem is composed entirely from public responses to the Smith Commission, a body that was initiated just after the Independence Referendum and was given the task of researching possibilities for further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament.

The work allows multiple voices to engage in a complex and conflicted discourse and seeks a political settlement beyond conventional political language. Finlay merely collects, reshapes, and adds space, allowing resonance to emerge. a better tale to tell includes a publication and wall installation in the CCA Gallery. Every week, invited readers have read from the new publication for 10 minutes in order to embody the texts sent to the commission. It tries to recall the opinions in a public space, remaining mindful of the thin line between speech in the form of letters sent to the Commission and public speech in the galleries. The publication is available to purchase at Aye-Aye books for £5.

--

The Glasgow School of Art Friday Event lecture series has been running since the early 1990s and is GSA’s flagship public lecture programme. Friday Event lectures are an integral part of the academic curricula, bringing major international speakers within contemporary art, design and architecture to the City of Glasgow. All events are free and open to the public.

This event is supported by The Glasgow School of Art.