London Film-Makers' Co-op
Encyclopedia
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 1960s counter-culture in London, before moving to the original Arts Lab
on Drury Lane, then sharing offices with John 'Hoppy' Hopkins'
BIT
information service and then, with the breakaway group that formed the New Arts Lab, to the Camden based Institute for Research in Art and Technology
. With the end of IRAT's lease in 1971 the Co-op found a base in a long-term squat in a former dairy at 13a Prince of Wales Crescent in Kentish Town.For most of its life the LFMC was based in Gloucester Avenue in Camden in a run down building which for a number of years also housed the London Musicians Collective. In 1997 the LFMC moved together with London Video Arts to the new Lux Centre, Hoxton Square
.
Founded by, amongst others, Stephen Dwoskin
and Bob Cobbing
, inspired by Jonas Mekas
's The Film-Makers' Cooperative
in New York. One difference between the New York Co-op and the LFMC was that the LFMC was organized as an egalitarian, worksharing cooperative, which assisted production as well as distribution.
It initially had close links with American experimental cinema. Dwoskin and Peter Gidal were ex-Factory
artists and Carla Liss ran the co-op's distribution archive
Filmmakers associated with the group include Malcolm Le Grice, Peter Gidal, Michael "Atters" Attree, Annabel Nicolson, Liz Rhodes, Gill Eatherley, Roger Hammond, David Crosswaite, et al and William Raban, who managed the LFMC workshop from 1972 - 76. Sally Potter
made several short films at the LFMC in the early 1970s.
Work produced by members of the LFMC in the late 1960s and early 1970s has been labelled Structural/Materialist Film
.
London Video Arts
London Video Arts was founded for the promotion, distribution and exhibition of video art.By 1976 video art had emerged as a viable time-based art form, which was beginning to establish its own aesthetic identity and theoretical discourse distinct from film.Following the influential Video Show at...
to form LUX
LUX
LUX is the principal centre for the promotion and distribution of experimental film and video works in the UK.It has one of the largest collections of experimental film and video art and houses works of over 1000 artists...
.
It grew out of film screenings at the Better Books
Better Books
Better Books was an independent bookstore. It was founded by Tony Godwin and was located at 94 Charing Cross Road, London.-History:It was founded by British publisher Tony Godwin who took over the premises at 94 Charing Cross Road, London, in 1946....
bookstore, part of the 1960s counter-culture in London, before moving to the original Arts Lab
Arts Lab
The Arts Lab was an alternative arts centre, founded in 1967 by Jim Haynes at 182 Drury Lane. Although only active for two years, it was influential in inspiring many similar centres in the UK and continental Europe, including the expanded I.C.A...
on Drury Lane, then sharing offices with John 'Hoppy' Hopkins'
John Hopkins (political activist)
John "Hoppy" Hopkins is a British photographer, journalist, researcher and political activist, and "one of the best-known underground figures of Swinging London" in the late 1960s.-Life:...
BIT
BIT
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 and derived its name from the smallest unit of computer information.-BIT:BIT was...
information service and then, with the breakaway group that formed the New Arts Lab, to the Camden based Institute for Research in Art and Technology
Institute for Research in Art and Technology
The Institute for Research in Art and Technology was founded in London in 1969 by arts theorist John Lifton as an offshoot of the London New Arts Lab, itself a breakaway from the original Arts Lab. Its early focus was on video and film, but this was subsequently expanded to include experimental...
. With the end of IRAT's lease in 1971 the Co-op found a base in a long-term squat in a former dairy at 13a Prince of Wales Crescent in Kentish Town.For most of its life the LFMC was based in Gloucester Avenue in Camden in a run down building which for a number of years also housed the London Musicians Collective. In 1997 the LFMC moved together with London Video Arts to the new Lux Centre, Hoxton Square
Hoxton Square
Hoxton Square is a garden square situated in Hoxton in the London Borough of Hackney, in London's East End. Formerly home to industrial premises, since the 1990s it has become the heart of the Hoxton arts and media scene, as well as being a hub of the thriving local entertainment district...
.
Founded by, amongst others, Stephen Dwoskin
Stephen Dwoskin
Stephen Dwoskin is an accomplished experimental filmmaker. He studied at Parsons School of Design where he was a student of De Kooning* and Josef Albers* and at New York University, receiving a Fulbright Scholarship to move to London in 1964, where is he still based. He was a co-founder of the...
and Bob Cobbing
Bob Cobbing
Bob Cobbing was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet who was a central figure in the British Poetry Revival.-Early life:...
, inspired by Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas is a Lithuanian-born American filmmaker, writer, and curator who has often been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema." His work has been exhibited in museums and festivals across Europe and America.-Biography:...
's The Film-Makers' Cooperative
The Film-Makers' Cooperative
The Film-Makers' Cooperative aka The New American Cinema Group is an artist-run, non-profit organization which was founded in 1962 in New York City by Jonas Mekas, Shirley Clarke, Stan Brakhage, Gregory Markopoulos, Lloyd Michael Williams and other filmmakers to distribute avant-garde films through...
in New York. One difference between the New York Co-op and the LFMC was that the LFMC was organized as an egalitarian, worksharing cooperative, which assisted production as well as distribution.
It initially had close links with American experimental cinema. Dwoskin and Peter Gidal were ex-Factory
The Factory
The Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...
artists and Carla Liss ran the co-op's distribution archive
Filmmakers associated with the group include Malcolm Le Grice, Peter Gidal, Michael "Atters" Attree, Annabel Nicolson, Liz Rhodes, Gill Eatherley, Roger Hammond, David Crosswaite, et al and William Raban, who managed the LFMC workshop from 1972 - 76. Sally Potter
Sally Potter
Charlotte Sally Potter is an English film director and screenwriter.-Career:Having left school at sixteen to become a filmmaker, Potter joined the London Film-Makers' Co-op and started making experimental short films, including Jerk and Play...
made several short films at the LFMC in the early 1970s.
Work produced by members of the LFMC in the late 1960s and early 1970s has been labelled Structural/Materialist Film
Structural film
Structural film was an experimental film movement prominent in the US in the 1960s and which developed into the Structural/materialist films in the UK in the 1970s.-Overview:The term was coined by P...
.
External links
- LFMC starts at Better Books and Notting Hill Festival - IT 1966
- LUX history - LFMC is formed, 13 October 1966
- A history of the LFMC
- British Artists' Film and Video Study Collection, online audio exhibition on the early years of the London Filmmakers' Co-op 1966 - 1968
- Shoot Shoot Shoot - The First Decade of LFMC 1966-76