Page 18 - Studio International - September 1967

architects, designers, engineers, cybernet-
The underground represents, not the exten-
Art is big, round sion of the visual arts, but their diffusion; not icians, cooks, topologists, toy-makers, flow-
and good a concentrated accumulation of effort, but a masters, think clowns, offers you the occasion
dispersal of ideas. The most positive aspect of to enjoy, 24 hours a day, space, light, move-
the various underground activities, the mass ment, air, sun, water, in a new dimension' . . .
psychedelic experiences, be-ins, raves, and so presenting 'for your delight the following:
on, is that what we have hitherto called 'art', juke box information, adult toys, star gazing,
or 'visual arts', or 'plastic arts', have become science gadgetry, news service, tele-communi-
absorbed into a routine of activities in a cation, swank promenades, hideaways, dance
completely unselfconscious—even if sometimes - floors, drink, rallies, battles of flowers, con-
unsatisfactory—manner. Just as folk art can- certs, learning machines, observation decks,
not be divorced from a pattern of life, or tradi- nurseries, music, theatre clownery, instant
tional African art from ritual, so we might cinema, fireworks, recording sessions, kunst
one day find that the visual residue of be-ins dabbling, gala days and nights, genius chat,
Jasia Reichardt will survive the ephemeral character of the gossip revues, laboratories, food, ateliers.'
events themselves and emerge as a significant, From this description, the Fun Palace was
meaningful art form. to provide for every type of entertainment
While socially-conscious intellectuals con- (except sex) with, or without, educational
This rather nice comment—`Art is big, round cerned themselves with the leisure problems content, the idea being to entertain everyone
and good' —was made not long ago by Michael of others, the younger generation, in the name at optimum level for as long as possible and to
Chow. It may seem unnecessarily naive, but of protest, art, love, and live-and-let-live satisfy needs in a way both amusing and
it happens to be characteristic of the verbal ideologies, proceeded to take care of the spare instructive. Tor the teenager who is interested
evocations whereby various unorthodox art time so far available. What Joan Littlewood, only in pop tunes, motorcycles and sex, the
manifestations communicate. I have in mind Gordon Pask and Cedric Price might not have problem is to get him thinking more abstractly
those activities which attempt to present a realized, during the planning stages of their about at least one of these.' The visitors and
field of total art and which more and more Fun Palace, is that the very people for whom their reactions were not only to be watched
frequently are referred to as the 'underground'. it was intended would not, and could not, closely so that existing facilities could be im-
Their semantic accompaniment is skeletal avail themselves of the facilities which were to proved; they were also to be encouraged to
and refreshingly free from art-trade lingo, be provided. increase their self-awareness through various
although it must be admitted that it too is a The idea of the Fun Palace was originally carefully planned processes. Among the
language on its own which consistently avoids conceived in 1962 and the publicity pamphlet activities the organizers considered setting up
any clearly defined specificity. boldly announced: 'Joan Littlewood, with was an 'Identity Bar' where visitors could buy

`Arlington two' at Arlington Mill, Bibury, Gloucestershire

As a sequel to 'Arlington One', the international
exhibition of concrete, visual, and spatial poetry
which took place in 1966, the recent exhibition at Ar-
lington offered a closer view of three British concrete
artists, John Furnival, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Dom
Sylvester Houédard, who have been working in close
collaboration with students from Bath Academy of Art
over the last year. The exhibition was essentially the
work of the students involved; that is, they had not
been acting merely as typesetters.
Room I, devoted to Finlay, contained eavelines-head-
lines, a folder of 13 sheets of imaginary headlines, the
composite work of 13 students; and various other
smaller projects by individual students.
In room 2, a group of students had been asked by
John Furnival to present in a non-literary way a body
of information revolving around the seven Greek
vowels and their related colours and planets. There
were no mystical overtones to this project, unless you
liked to read them into it.
Room 3 was a development of an idea provided by
Houédard; an etymological voyage of discovery from
the Sanskrit root 'ta' meaning 'to expand'. Special
screens had been evolved around the actual struc-
ture of the mill itself, so that, with the word-images
painted on them they became a complete word-form
environment.

La tante tantrique development of an idea
suggested by Dom Sylvester Houédard
Photo: Jon Willcocks
80