The Strange Names Collective

Hinterland invited artist Philip Stanier and his project The Strange Names Collective to be part of the Reading Room when it was installed at Broadway in February 2009. 451 is an ongoing project working towards 451 photographs of 451 people, thinking of the book they would memorise if they could. Each person is named in correction fluid on the front of the photograph, as the book they have chosen, as the book they are thinking of in the photograph itself. For example Mr Catch 22 and Ms Under Milk Wood, Mr Encyclopaedia of Recreational Diving and Ms Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

451 puts people who have never met into new family groups according to title, author and genre and splits real friends and family apart. In 451 any book is permitted from fiction to biography, children's literature to practical manuals, philosophy to religion, poetry to plays, dictionaries to encyclopaedias, comics, coffee table books and sexually explicit material.

The Strange Names Collective was formed in 2001 by Philip Stanier. The collective is based at the Manchester Metropolitan University (Alsager) where Philip is a Lecturer and Research Fellow in Contemporary Theatre practice.