The Poetics of Alexander Hetherington

Rather like a politician or business mogul whose work consists mainly of talking to people, Alex Hetherington has a full day of meetings ahead of him. Knowing the huge scale and scope of his new project, I’m doubtful we’ll get around to discussing even half it. But I hadn’t bargained on the artist’s comprehensive way of talking, gathering everything together in his Irish-American lilt with a quiet, earnest energy.

Beginning in March, Modern Edinburgh Film School will be a season of projects ‘appearing and disappearing’ at various venues through until August. Based at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop's new premises, Hetherington will use the HQ to stimulate dialogues at Embassy, New Media Scotland, ECA and other spaces around the city.

Kicking off with a screening and a group show at Embassy, The Hand that Holds the Desert Down will examine beauty and film poetry in Scottish documentary and moving image. A series of essays and talks by a ‘faculty’ will provide a loose curriculum of sorts. Contributors are numerous, including Anne Colvin, US artists Trisha Donnelly and Tom Marioni, Lyndsay Mann, Debi Banerjee, Stephen Sutcliffe, Anthony Schrag and Hetherington himself.

“And then there’s the question of, am I qualified to teach film?” says Hetherington. “That’s one of the big questions of the project, in a way - what qualification means. Students from ECA and Edinburgh College are involved in the School. And this idea that a Free School can also be connected to an established academic environment is very important, because it gives it some kind of authenticity or authority.”

His call-out for video work invited submissions in response to themes such as ‘This space evaporates, pursues too, yet requests time,’ and, ‘flowers and questions, indoor: blue, black, permanent.’ The titles alone evoke poetics, space and Margaret Tait, strongly reflecting individual tastes and earmarking certain subjects for discussion. 

“I wanted to create a curriculum, but didn’t want to be quite that didactic,” says Hetherington. “So I’m not being very didactic about this, but I am being very selective about what’s included in the school.”

Margaret Tait’s legacy will be acknowledged directly, at a screening introduced by film academic Sarah Neely. “They’re just gorgeous works to look at and so extraordinary. So part of the film school is in Tait’s honour – she’s such an interesting woman, in fact, that’s what this is all about. So I hope it generates a resurgence of interest in Tait.” 

“Another thing is that Edinburgh’s such an academic town. What I love is the idea of education and opportunity that exists within the fabric of the city. You’re never more than about six feet away from someone doing a PhD.”

In any time spare after having all these conversations with people, Hetherington has been busy producing exquisitely made flyers and printed essays in monochromatic designs on lacquered paper. Documented extensively with careful captions on his Tumblr, the high-end items are not just in a supporting role, but works in themselves. Even his Tumblr is curated. It seems that everything these days is curated – even the films available to watch on Glasgow Film Theatre’s online player. But Hetherington really makes an art of it.  

Another post on his blog reads, ‘What would Derek Jarman do?’ – perhaps a personal go-to, but it’s hard to imagine Hetherington taking his inspiration from only one figure – he is too eager to do everything. “I have so much energy for this kind of work. I’ll reveal the top secret about the Edinburgh Film School. The person that’s learning the most about the work is me.”