The Armchair Monologues, words by Michael Pedersen, animation by Ben Woodcock, commissioned by AGA.

In 2022 we commissioned the writer and poet Michael Pedersen (in partnership with Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde) to creatively respond to our collection. He produced a poem, The Armchair Monologues, responding to Gray’s famous green armchair, which he performed at Oran Mor as part of our Gray Day in 2022 & 2023 and was later published in Issue 28 of Gutter Magazine. Michael’s poem was then creatively interpreted in 2024 by Ben Woodcock, a 4th Year student at the Glasgow School of Art who specialises in Illustration. These layers of creative responses reflect Gray’s own approach to making. Throughout his working life, Gray sought to celebrate and declare his influences, seeing them as an integral part of all making. Similarly, we encourage and support creatives to respond to Gray’s work, taking inspiration from it, but making new work of their own, that can stand alone and make it a generative resource. As Michael has said of the commission:
“I fell hook, line and sinker for that Armchair-that's to say I was both physically and conceptually drawn to it. All the visitants who've sat there and gulped back Alasdair's stories-the indents they've left while ruminating, the creases they've conjured twisting on the spot. In a more gothic season, it's a treasure trove of dead skin and stray fingernails: the potpourri of living that's slipped down its edges. For my money's worth, sitting on that chair and gazing upon the writing desk and his panoply of books is the closest we can become to being Alasdair.”
Thanks To Michael Pedersen for the words, Ben Woodcock for the animation and to Gutter, Ross Hogg at The Glasgow School or Art and Sorcha Dallas at AGA for their support. Thanks also to Rodge Glass from Creative Writing the University of Strathclyde for supporting the initial commission.