Pair pressure

A poet and an artist who've never met or spoken with each other are producing a joint work of art, writes Sharu Delilkan.

Going back to basics has worked a treat for visual artist Anne-Sophie Adelys and digital poet Helen Sword who are collaborating for Metonymy 2010.
Based on memories, their work is centred on the simple notebook they have posted to each other each week.
Sticking with the partnered art event's theme of a "creative blind date" they've neither met nor spoken to one another on the phone.
"We emailed initially to set up the strategy but have since only been in touch via our creative messages in the notebooks," says Sword.
Metonymy, an offering in the Going West literary festival, pairs actors with composers, poets with object artists, sculptors with spoken word performers. To ensure they each had a notebook to work on during the week, Sword and Adelys have swapped two notebooks by snail-mail each week.
"It was extremely exciting getting the notebook in the post the first time. I had absolutely no idea what to expect," says Adelys.
Both artists say they've enjoyed the process thoroughly, although they feel it's been too short.
"It was interesting getting to know her memories and thoughts," says Adelys of reading Sword's notes. "It made me feel quite intimate with her, even though we still haven't met."
The franked envelopes, which they've decorated, will be incorporated with the notebooks in an installation for the exhibition.
Sword, who will be out of the country for this, says she knows it's in good hands.
"She [Annie-Sophie] will be constructing something on the wall with both the notebooks and envelopes. I trust her implicitly and know that she will make it eyecatching and interesting."
Come again
Metonymy is a regular segment of the Going West literary festival. The dictionary defines metonymy as a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of The Beehive when referring to the Government.
Metonymy 2010, Going West Books & Writers Festival, Corbans Estate Arts Centre, 426 Great North Rd, Henderson, Sept 2-Oct 16. Ph 838 4455.