The Arts Lab was an alternative arts centre, founded in 1967 by Jim Haynes at 182 Drury Lane, London. Although only active for two years, it was influential in inspiring many similar centres in the UK, continental Europe and Australia, including the expanded Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, the Milky Way/Melkweg in Amsterdam (where Jack Henry Moore was one of the founders), [1] the Entrepôt in Paris and the Yellow House Artist Collective founded by Martin Sharp in Sydney.
The Lab contained a 'soft floor' cinema in the basement designed and run by David Curtis. In the entrance there was a gallery space co-curated by Biddy Peppin (Curtis's partner) and Pamela Zoline. In a separate (but connected) warehouse was the theatre, designed by Jack Henry Moore, who initially co-directed the activities there. Both the cinema and theatre were constructed by David Jeffrey, whose partner, Philippa James, was closely involved in the Lab's day-to-day running. Upstairs, the space in front initially housed a film workshop put together by Malcolm Le Grice and students from St. Martin's School of Art and the London School of Film Technique, and subsequently a restaurant run by Susan Miles. [2] Haynes lived in the back above the storage and dressing rooms. A number of other people lived in various corners of the building, and the all-night cinema was often seen as a cheap crash-pad. [3] Such amenities made it perfect for live events and "happenings", and helped establish it as a centre of the London counterculture.
One of the most significant features of the Arts Lab was that it encouraged similar establishments to create other independent centres, many of which outlived Haynes' original, which closed in the autumn of 1969. On 18 December 1968 the Alchemical Wedding benefit for the Arts Lab and BIT alternative information centre took place at the Royal Albert Hall, and following it, on 25–26 January 1969, the Arts Lab Conference in Cambridge emphasized the strength of the Arts Lab movement, listing 50 such centres across the whole country, including the Birmingham Arts Lab, Brighton Combination [4] and centres in Exeter, Farnham, Guildford, Huddersfield, Loughborough, Manchester, Southampton, Bath and Swindon. [5]
Yoko Ono and John Lennon's first joint artwork Build Around was exhibited at the Drury Lane Arts Lab in May 1968. [6]
David Bowie, who used to rehearse (and perform mime) at the Drury Lane Arts Lab, co-founded a Beckenham Arts Lab, which organised a one-day free festival, but was disillusioned by the lack of interest of other performers/artists taking an active role in the continuation of the centre. [7]
Dave Cousins of The Strawbs organized the Hounslow Arts Lab. [8]
Wheeler Winston Dixon worked at the Arts Lab in the summer of 1968, writing for the Lab's newsletter, as well as making and screening his own films.
The Havering Arts Lab, run by future Stuckism founder Charles Thomson (at the time aged 16) resulted in the headline "Sex Orgy Tale—Group Banned" in the local newspaper. [9]
The Bath Arts Workshop which was founded in 1969 by ex Drury Lane workers continues to this day (2014) as parent body for the Natural Theatre Company.
The Worthing Workshop, an Arts Lab formed in 1968, [10] included Leo Sayer, [11] Brian James of The Damned, Billy Idol and Steamhammer, [12] whose guitarist, Martin Quittenton, went on to co-write Rod Stewart's UK number one hits "You Wear It Well" [13] and "Maggie May". [14]
Alan Moore, writer of comic books including Watchmen and V for Vendetta , regarded as "one of the most important British writers of the last fifty years". [15] was involved with many activities, [16] including poetry, in the Northampton Arts Lab. [17]
An Arts Lab Newsletter was produced by Nicholas Albery of BIT in 1968 and updated in various editions of Bitman in later years.
The first multi-day free festival in the UK, the Cambridge Free Festival, was organised by the Cambridge Arts Lab in 1969. [18]
An intentional community inspired by the Arts Lab was founded in 2014 on Merseyside. [19]
In London, a New Arts Lab (also titled 'Institute for Research in Art and Technology') was founded by a breakaway group of original members and others, including the London Film-Makers' Co-op. [20] Housed between 1969 and 1971 in a short-life factory building in Robert Street, London NW1, it contained a cinema run by David Curtis, theatre and gallery spaces, the London Film Makers' Co-op workshop, John Hopkins's TVX, and a printing workshop run by John Collins. The full-width opening doors at ground floor level enabled J. G. Ballard's Crashed Cars exhibition to be held there. [21]
After a 'Day of Counter-Culture' meeting, [22] a new Northampton Arts Lab was formed in 2016. [23]
Vorticism was a London-based modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist manifesto in Blast magazine. Familiar forms of representational art were rejected in favour of a geometric style that tended towards a hard-edged abstraction. Lewis proved unable to harness the talents of his disparate group of avant-garde artists; however, for a brief period Vorticism proved to be an exciting intervention and an artistic riposte to Marinetti's Futurism and the post-impressionism of Roger Fry's Omega Workshops.
Todd Haynes is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender roles.
Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World is an underground movie made in the UK that runs to 48 hours long, created as a collaboration by respectively French and British filmmakers Vincent Patouillard as directors and Anthony Scott in production in association with the Swiss Film Centre and the London Film-Makers' Co-op workshop.
John Victor Lindsay "Hoppy" Hopkins was a British photographer, journalist, researcher and political activist, and "one of the best-known underground figures of 'Swinging London' " in the late 1960s.
The London Film-makers' Co-op, or LFMC, was a British film-making workshop founded in 1966. It ceased to exist in 1999 when it merged with London Video Arts to form LUX.
The Experimental Theatre Club (ETC) is a student dramatic society at the University of Oxford, England. It was founded in 1936 by Nevill Coghill as an alternative company to the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), and produces several productions a year.
"Love You till Tuesday" is a song written and performed by David Bowie. The first version of the song, recorded in February 1967, was included on Bowie's debut album. A second version, released as a single, was recorded on 3 June 1967 and released on 14 July 1967. The single garnered good notices from the music press but, like his earlier singles, failed to break into the British charts. It was his final new release for Deram Records.
James Almand Haynes was an American-born figure in the British 1950s-60s counterculture, beginning in Edinburgh, Scotland with the opening of The Paperback bookshop in 1959. He was also a co-founder of Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre, The Howff, and a co-producer of the 1962 Edinburgh Writers and 1964 Drama conferences. In London, he co-founded the underground newspaper International Times and the London Drury Lane Arts Lab. In 1969 he relocated to Paris and taught at the University of Paris, and for over 30 years hosted his open door Sunday Dinners, to international gatherings.
BIT was an information service, publisher, travel guide and social centre founded, in 1968, by John "Hoppy" Hopkins. It pre-dated the Internet as a free service that would try to find any information asked for, but post-dated library reference desks, and derived its name from the smallest unit of computer information.
City Lit is an adult education college in Holborn, central London, founded by the London County Council in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities and sciences, languages, performing arts, visual arts, deaf education, family learning, community outreach, learning disabilities education, speech therapy and universal skills.
The Institute for Research in Art and Technology was founded in London in 1969 by a group of artists and activists including painter/author Pamela Zoline, video Pioneer John Hopkins, painter Biddy Peppin, film enthusiast David Curtis, arts theorist John Lifton composer Hugh Davies. Its early focus was on video, film, theatre and new media but this was subsequently expanded to include experimental literature, drama, sculpture and multimedia all based on art/technology crossovers.
The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels is a group of occultists and performers including writer and magician Alan Moore, Bauhaus member David J, and musician Tim Perkins, who perform occult "workings" consisting of prose poetry set to music. Several of these "workings" have been released onto CD. It was also the name of the group's first performance piece which was released as a spoken word CD in 1996.
Portable Theatre Company was a writer-led company that toured alternative arts venues in the UK between 1968 -1973. Their aim was to present original and provocative new writing that challenged the staid mediocrity of mainstream theatre.
The People Show is the longest-running experimental theatre company in the UK, and is based in London.
Nicholas Bronson Albery was a British social inventor and author, was the instigator or coordinator of a variety of projects aimed at an improvement to society, often known as the alternative society.
The Intimate Theatre was a repertory theatre in Palmers Green, London from 1937 to 1987, and is the name commonly used for St. Monica's Church Hall.
Michael Patrick Napier-Brown was a British actor, theatre director, and playwright who was the chief executive and artistic director of the Royal Theatre in Northampton for over 20 years.
The WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are a fan-driven set of awards organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com, based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions of English theatre, with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.
Brentford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Brentford, Hounslow, London. Between 1897 and 1920, the first team competed in the London League, Southern League and Western League. Since 1920, the first team has competed in the Football League, the Premier League and other nationally and internationally organised competitions. All players who have been awarded the club's Supporters' Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards are listed below.
Leo and some friends formed an Arts and Music club called "The Worthing Workshop"
My mates and I formed the WORTHING WORKSHOP, which was part of the South-East Arts Lab Co-op
Covers of Northampton Arts Lab magazine and the "Embryo" edited by Alan Moore
