Global art project reveals 'unhurried' poems that appear over 50 years

Glengoyne Whisky has partnered with revered conceptual artist, Jonathon Keats, on a one-of-a-kind “unhurried” art project that is being exhibited globally in key cities around the world.

Jonathon has worked with a selection of poems from some of the world’s leading poets to create unique literary artworks that will reveal their words over the next two to fifty years.

Going against the grain of today’s instantaneous culture, each piece has been created using an innovative printing technique which will allow the concealed poetry to appear slowly, in its own time, based on the ink’s exposure to ultraviolet light.

The project, inspired by Glengoyne’s own unhurried approach to whisky making, is set to challenge consumers’ relationships with time and appreciation of craft.

Five poems, each themed around time, have been written by some of the world’s most exciting poets, including Cat Hepburn and Jeda Pearl (Scotland), Courtney Peppernell (Australia), Alison Malee (America) and Martin Reints (Holland).

A version of each of their poems will be exhibited from October in the home countries of the poets for the next fifty years, including The Brandy Library (New York), The Ubiquitous Chip (Glasgow), J.D. Williams (Amsterdam) and Michelin-starred restaurant City Social (London) - creating a truly one-of-a-kind global exhibition.

Katy Muggeridge, Senior Brand Manager for Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Whisky, said: “As everything becomes instantaneous, delivered next day, our appreciation of craft and time is definitely diminishing. At Glengoyne we have always valued the role time can play and its importance to our whisky in creating outstanding flavour.

“That’s why for our special rebrand, we wanted to bring the idea of unhurried into a different space, with something that’s never been done before. These special pieces of literary art won’t be immediately available for people to view. Instead, they will appear over time, when they are ready.”

Renowned conceptual artist and experimental philosopher, Jonathon Keats, who has taken the poems and turned them into literary art pieces, is well known for his conceptually challenging and ground-breaking projects, especially around the subject of time.

In 2019 he created a camera with a 1000-year-old exposure to document climate change around Lake Tahoe.

"As the pace of modern life accelerates, we're becoming increasingly detached from planet Earth and one another," Jonathon says. "Initiatives that take place over a long time, based on gradual change, have the potential to reconnect us with nature and our own humanity. This project is an attempt to recalibrate society by providing a new platform for slow culture."

The project coincides with the launch of a brand-new look and feel across the brand’s entire portfolio. The new design celebrates the brand’s unique connection to time as Scotland’s slowest distilled malt, unhurried since 1833, which helps create its gloriously sweet, fruity spirit.

As part of the distillery’s long-standing commitment to sustainability and the future, the new Glengoyne Collection also becomes fully recyclable, free of plastic and magnets, and locally sourced, with nearly all of the material originating from Scotland.