A Gray’s place accessible version and video transcripts
The interactive version of A Gray’s place has 5 videos featuring images of Alasdair Gray’s home together with music and onscreen text. You can access each video separately here, together with text transcripts and a brief description of Alasdair’s home.
There are also 4 360 videos of each of the main rooms in Alasdair Gray’s house that we’re currently unable to share outside of the interactive environment. If you would like us to describe these to you personally or you have any suggestions for how we can make this experience more accessible for you, please do contact us.
Description of Alasdair Gray’s home
Alasdair lived in a 1 bedroom flat on the bottom floor of what was originally a very large Victorian terraced house in Glasgow. You entered the flat through a large communal hallway with a tiled floor and an imposing staircase. The door to Alasdair’s flat was white with a frosted glass window and led into a small internal hall with doors to the other rooms. The kitchen was very ordinary and rather scruffy – with mismatched crockery and an old dark table and chairs. But the front living room was very large and imposing and the back bedroom was smaller but still fairly big. The walls of the front room where Alasdair and his assistants worked and the back room where he slept were both covered from floor to ceiling in books and pictures that Alasdair created or collected. The furniture in both rooms was worn and old and the front room also had all Alasdair’s pots of paint and brushes and a painting on a big easel. Along with things relating to his creative inspirations and output, Alasdair also collected all sorts of objects and curiosities that caught his fancy or reminded him of people and places. These ranged from shells and stones that he sometimes wrote on to remind himself of why they were important; small toys like the Wonder Woman doll that had belonged to Alasdair’s granddaughter and a colourful clockwork chicken; along with an old granite curling stone and a copy of the artist William Blake’s death mask.
Video introduction to A Gray’s place
The video combines photographs of Alasdair Gray’s flat in Glasgow with music and onscreen text. Music by Lexin_Music from Pixabay.
Text transcript: What is home? For Alasdair Gray home was his creative imagination. And he lived there all his life. But while Alasdair lived in his mind, his body lived in physical places. Places where his creative imagination escaped to cover walls and surfaces. The places Alasdair lived were all borrowed, rented or loaned. Temporary. And when Alasdair died the last place he lived was emptied. But Alasdair’s creative imagination still lives in the words and pictures he left behind for us. And the last place he lived still exists too. Now in points of coloured light. So we can all explore it and be inspired. Visit A Gray’s place in A Gray Space to take a tour and explore on your own. With thanks to… Fiona Watson for allowing us to use her beautiful photographs of Alasdair’s flat. AlasdairGraySpace.net A Gray Space inspired by Alasdair Gray. Subscribe. Comment. Be inspired.
Video tour of the communal hallway outside Alasdair Gray’s flat
The video combines photographs of the communal hallway that led to Alasdair’s flat with music and onscreen text. Music by kaazoom from Pixabay.
Text transcript: Alasdair’s final home belonged to his wife Morag and after she died he lived here alone. Paintings and sculptures given by friends spilled into the building’s communal hallway. Together with an early painting of Alasdair’s childhood home with his mother looking out of a lighted window, for him? The doors to all Alasdair’s homes were often left open. And in the last years of Alasdair’s life this door was opened by the many carers who came and went everyday. Making it possible for Alasdair to stay surrounded by all the things he had collected and created right up to the end.
Video tour of the kitchen in Alasdair Gray’s flat
The video combines photographs of the kitchen in Alasdair’s flat with music and onscreen text. Music by MusicLFiles from Pixabay.
Text transcript: Alasdair relished domestic comforts but struggled to create them for himself. He was more at home among books and paintings than he ever was in the kitchen. Domestic objects generally arrived by chance. Gifted or inherited and retained regardless of age or condition. But as he got older loyal friends and helpers looked after him. Ensuring that Alasdair’s final home was the most secure and comfortable place he ever lived.
Video tour of the bedroom in Alasdair Gray’s flat
The video combines photographs of the bedroom in Alasdair’s flat with music and onscreen text. Music by Daddy_s_Music from Pixabay.
Text transcript: Alasdair slept surrounded by his books and paintings. Although his final hospital bed left this room shortly after he did. A chest of drawers and hall cupboard contained his few clothes. Family pictures and mementos were kept closest to where he lay. Awake for long hours, identifying improvements to artworks and recording his thoughts and dreams. Absorbed in the creative conversations that only chess and alcohol could silence.
Video tour of the living room in Alasdair Gray’s flat
The video combines photographs of the living room in Alasdair’s flat with music and onscreen text. Music by Daddy_s_Music from Pixabay.
Text transcript: For most of his life Alasdair lived and worked in a single room. The chairs and table sat in their familiar circle on an old red rug. The many cats and cassette tapes belonged to Alasdair’s wife. The many books and paintings were mostly Alasdair’s. The computer was only ever used by his assistants. While Alasdair sat at the homemade desk that travelled with him from place to place. Along with the souvenirs and curiosities that held as many stories as Alasdair himself.