Que Sera Sara?

There is a stealth artist in our midst.

The Batman of bookart has been gallivanting about town for months, leaving precious sculptures with inscribed messages for the literary community.

First there was Scottish Poetry Library – a poetree stashed among the shelves.

The National Library displays theirs in the entrance, a badge of honor.

Then the Filmhouse blossomed in miniature.

The Scottish Storytelling Centre found a dragon’s egg hidden in the window

…and today both City of Literature Trust and Edinburgh International Book Festival found their own sweet sculptural offerings.

Each comes with a tag, dedicated to the organization for their support of “libraries, books, words and ideas”.  And that is all.

It’s been 6 months of covert planning, and some serious exacto-knife skills.

Excitement and joy abound in happy recipients and the odd menagerie of followers observing it all (myself included).

The funny thing is, each one is addressed to the organisations twitter account, rather than their full title (@byleaveswelive, @edbookfest…) which got me thinking.

It is undoubtedly about shouting about what matters, and celebrating those who do too. As well as being some seriously stellar artefacts in their own right.

But in an age of internet addiction, with an endless stream of personal and professional information flooding through all channels, the anonymity of the project is what gives it such distinction.

It’s mysterious. It’s exciting. It’s sexy.

Because it’s a phantom in the night. It’s a surprise. The way few things are when everything is laid bare on the twittertastic table.

Not that I’m against the lovely internet revolution, but this sweet, small beacon has reminded me of old, half forgotten things; secret identities and surprises.

I’ll light the BatSignal for that sort of romance any day.

ps – The photos in the links are all courtesy of the lovely Chris Scott. He is very talented. His in-depth rundown of these covert goings-on can be found here.