Alastair MacLennan, born in 1943, lives and works in Belfast.

During the 1970s and 1980s he made long, non-stop durational performances in Britain and America of up to 144 hours each, usually neither eating nor sleeping throughout. Subject matter dealt with political, social, and cultural malfunction. Since 1975 he has been based in Belfast and was a founder member of Belfast's Art and Research Exchange. Since 1975 he has taught at the University of Ulster and for 11 years ran the Postgraduate Fine Art programme in Belfast. He is currently a Research Professor in Fine Art and travels extensively in Eastern and Western Europe, America, and Canada, presenting actuations (his term for performance/installations). He has been a member of Black Market International since 1989. In 1997 Alastair MacLennan represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale with inter-media work commemorating the names of all those who died as a result of the Political Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1969 to date.