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
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
(ICA) in London, the Milky Way/
Melkweg
Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a popular music venue and cultural centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein, a prime nightlife square of Amsterdam. It is housed in a former dairy and is divided int ...
in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
(where Jack Henry Moore was one of the founders), the
Entrepôt
An ''entrepôt'' (; ) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into c ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and the
Yellow House Artist Collective The Yellow House at 57–59 Macleay Street, Potts Point, was an artists' collective that existed from 1970 through to the beginning of 1973 in Sydney, Australia. The collective was established by artist Martin Sharp on his return from London at the ...
founded by
Martin Sharp in
Sydney.
Drury Lane Arts Lab
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
Pamela Zoline (or Pamela Lifton-Zoline; born 1941) is an American writer and painter, born in Chicago, living in the United States in Telluride, Colorado.
Background
Among science fiction fans, she is known for her controversial short story "The ...
. 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
Malcolm Le Grice (born May 1940, in Plymouth, United Kingdom) is a British artist known for his avant-garde film work.
Biography
The British Film Institute claims that he "is probably the most influential modernist filmmaker in British cinema".
...
and students from
St. Martin's School of Art and the
London School of Film Technique
London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK. , and subsequently a restaurant run by
Susan Miles
Susan Miles was the pen name of Ursula Wyllie Roberts (1887–1975).
Biography
She was born at Meerut in India, where her father was in the British military. He was Lieutenant-Colonel Robert John Humphrey Wyllie and her mother was Emily Titcomb. ...
. 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. Such amenities made it perfect for live events and "
happenings
A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events.
History
Origins
Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...
", and helped establish it as a centre of the London counterculture.
Arts Lab movement
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
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
emphasized the strength of the Arts Lab movement, listing 50 such centres across the whole country, including the
Birmingham Arts Lab,
Brighton Combination and centres in
Exeter,
Farnham,
Guildford,
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
,
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
,
Bath and
Swindon.
Notable involvees
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
and
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's first joint artwork ''Build Around'' was exhibited at the Drury Lane Arts Lab in May 1968.
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, who used to rehearse (and perform mime) at the Drury Lane Arts Lab, co-founded a
Beckenham
Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...
Arts Lab, which organised a one-day
free festival
Free festivals are a combination of music, arts and cultural activities, for which often no admission is charged, but involvement is preferred. They are identifiable by being multi-day events connected by a camping community without centralised c ...
, but was disillusioned by the lack of interest of other performers/artists taking an active role in the continuation of the centre.
Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.
Career
Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the Str ...
of
The Strawbs
Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock.
They are best known ...
organized the
Hounslow
Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...
Arts Lab.
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Wheeler Winston Dixon (born March 12, 1950) is an American filmmaker and scholar. He is an expert on film history, theory and criticism.Bill Goodykoontz, December 23, 2012, USA TodayDefining Tarantino Accessed Aug. 25, 2013, Quote = "...long, invo ...
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
The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The ...
Arts Lab, run by future
Stuckism
Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art.[Charles Thomson
Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Patriot leader in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and the secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson ...]
(at the time aged 16) resulted in the headline "Sex Orgy Tale—Group Banned" in the local newspaper.
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, included
Leo Sayer
Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009.
Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...
,
Brian James of
The Damned,
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...
and
Steamhammer, whose guitarist,
Martin Quittenton
Martin Quittenton (22 April 1945 – 16 April 2015) was a British guitarist and composer. He played in the blues rock band Steamhammer, formed in 1968. Their debut album '' Steamhammer'' was released in 1969.
Quittenton also worked with Rod Stew ...
, went on to co-write
Rod Stewart's UK number one hits "
You Wear It Well
"You Wear It Well" is a song written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, performed by Stewart. It uses an arrangement markedly similar to that of " Maggie May", one of Stewart's hits from the previous year.
Stewart recorded "You Wear It Wel ...
" and "
Maggie May
"Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album '' Every Picture Tells a Story'', released in 1971.
In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song number 130 on its list of ...
".
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
, writer of comic books including ''
Watchmen
''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...
'' and ''
V for Vendetta
''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthol ...
'', regarded as "one of the most important British writers of the last fifty years".
was involved with many activities, including poetry, in the Northampton Arts Lab.
Influence
An ''Arts Lab Newsletter'' was produced by
Nicholas Albery
Nicholas Bronson Albery (28 July 1948 – 3 June 2001) 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.
Early life and ...
of BIT in 1968 and updated in various editions of ''
Bitman'' in later years.
The first multi-day
free festival
Free festivals are a combination of music, arts and cultural activities, for which often no admission is charged, but involvement is preferred. They are identifiable by being multi-day events connected by a camping community without centralised c ...
in the UK, the Cambridge Free Festival, was organised by the Cambridge Arts Lab in 1969.
An
intentional community inspired by the Arts Lab was founded in 2014 on
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...
.
Successors
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
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.
It grew out of film screenings at the Better Books bookstore, part of the 196 ...
. 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.
After a 'Day of Counter-Culture' meeting, a new Northampton Arts Lab was formed in 2016.
Should artists be reared in laboratories? By Steve Scoles - Northampton Herald & Post
/ref>
References
Further reading
*
External links
IT - Covent Garden - Jim Haynes has found a space for his new arts' supermarket - 28 April 1967
Biddy Peppin and David Curtis talk for Adhocracy - August 2011 at Rich Mix Arts Centre
BIT Report on Arts Labs around the country, 1969 - compiled by Nick Albery
*The Generalist
an
Mary Finnigan on the Beckenham Arts Lab 'Growth'
{{UK underground
Arts centres in England
Counterculture