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next Michael Tims  Pseudonyms: A.C. McWhortle AA Bronson AA Bronson (1946), born Michael Tims, is an artist, magazine publisher and curator who co-founded the artists' group General Idea. Below an interview by Snowdon Snowden, in 2011 about the name AA Bronson: Snowden Snowden: ‘Were you AA Bronson around the house? The name, AA Bronson sounds dependable, like a metals company: AA Bronson Steel. How did you land on that name?’ AA Bronson: ‘In 1969, just immediately preceding General Idea, I wrote a porn novel with a friend, A.S.A. Harrison. We sold it outright to a small publisher, copyright and all. When it came out, the name AA Bronson was on the cover. My friends started to call me that as a kind of joke, and it stuck. The book was banned in Canada, and Grove Press brought out another edition that sold out, so I figured AA Bronson must be a pretty good name.’ Snowden Snowden: ‘What name is on your tax return?’ AA Bronson: ‘The name on my tax return and passport and so on is Michael Tims.’ Snowden Snowden: ‘Did you ever consider legally changing your name to AA Bronson?’ AA Bronson: ‘I did legally change it, but again, my life has been like a series of accidents. Around 1977, General Idea was showing videotapes at an art centre in Brussels. The event was funded by the Canadian embassy, and they asked us to come by and collect the cheque for our artists’ fee, but the check was made out to AA Bronson. I said, ‘Oh, there’s a little problem, AA Bronson’s not my real name!’ The cultural consul said, ‘Give me your passport.’ He disappeared for about ten minutes, came back with it and said, ‘Okay, now you’re okay.’ They had added, ‘The professional name of the bearer is AA Bronson’.’ Snowden Snowden: ‘What’s the process of legally changing your name?’ AA Bronson: ‘In Canada, that was all I had to do. Jorge changed his name legally as well but he had to do it through the court system. He had to pay a fee and fill out some papers. With me, I was just adding a name rather than changing it. Even now, on the paperwork for my Green card, it says, ‘Michael Tims, a.k.a. AA Bronson,’ which is amazing to me, that the American government would do that. My lawyer said, ‘Well, I’m just going to type it in and let’s see what they do.’ They left the whole thing intact. I don’t even know if they know; they might think that it’s a very long name, ‘Michael Tims a.k.a. AA Bronson’.’ Snowden Snowden: ‘That a.k.a. really makes you sound like a criminal… What does a pseudonym allow you that your birth name didn’t?’ AA Bronson: ‘Michael Tims was extremely shy and unable to operate in the public world, but AA Bronson had already written a porn novel and was much more in your face, so I decided to take on the second identity. I was surprised that I could do it, that I could act out being this person who was so different from who I really was.’ Snowden Snowden: ‘Could you keep them autonomous?’ AA Bronson: ‘Yeah, although as the years went by the two sort of merged. It’s hard to distinguish between them now.’ Snowden Snowden: ‘Does AA Bronson have a different id than Michael Tims?’ AA Bronson: ‘That’s a good question. It’s possible. Actually… Yes.’ See also A.S.A. Harrison. Source: Snowden Snowden (2011), Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz AA Bronson on General Idea, Metropolis M, vol. 7, no. 01 February/March previous A–Z next |