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The Lion and the Unicorn

The Lion and the Unicorn

Artist (Edinburgh, Scotland, born 1987)
Date2012
Mediumdigital video
ClassificationsTime-Based Media
Dimensions11 min 30
AcquisitionPresented in 2014 by the Contemporary Art Society.
Copyright© Rachel Maclean
LocationOn Display - Gallery 09
Object numberABDAG017799
About MeEmerging artist Rachel Maclean combines film and performance art to explore issues of Scottish identity. Fascinated by the tacky goods on sale in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile souvenir shops, she has been working on the subject of Scottishness since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009.

Maclean’s work has particular currency in this year of the referendum on Scottish Independence. The characters in her short film 'The Lion and the Unicorn' are the heraldic beasts from the Royal Coat of Arms. Maclean has appropriated sound footage from TV interviews and film and playing all the parts - the Lion (England), the Unicorn (Scotland) and the Queen - she lip-syncs perfectly to the voices of Jeremy Paxman and Alex Salmond, squabbling over the future of Scottish governance.





More About Me
Rachel Maclean combines film and performance to explore issues of Scottish identity.  From the Royal Coat of Arms come the heraldic beasts of lion for England and unicorn for Scotland.
Exhibitions