Surveying the works of Alastair MacLennan from the early-nineteen seventies to twenty-twenty, this essay engages with his gestural worlds, qualities of presence and use of materials to understand the the powerful cultural resonances of these performances of dwelling and gathering. Johnston, Driver and Blair’s book is a comprehensive collection on MacLennan’s extraordinary oeuvre.
Actional Poetics – ASH SHE HE: The Performance Actuations of Alastair MacLennan, 1971–2020, eds. Sandra Johnston, Cherie Driver and Paula Blair, Intellect, 2021. ISBN 9781789383720.
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Alastair MacLennan, Coil to Met, 2009. Orchard St, Newcastle upon Tyne. Photo: © Locus+ Archive. Photographer: Colin Davison.