Page 26 - Studio International - May 1969

An American wellsprings of his creative being which, Robin The development of the Leeds approach is
into its orbit.
Page asserts, we all had once, but which are
at Leeds bound to be dammed up in a society where variously described as a happy accident and
conformity and emotional control are the
the careful work of a few men. It seems to have
values which are prized. begun with Thubron, who settled there in the
Everything depends on how well this goal is mid-fifties and attracted some like-minded
Meryle Secrest achieved and very little on what comes out of talents. Among those who came to work with
the process; a point of view which runs coun­ him was Eric Atkinson, an intense, intro­
ter to traditional art education thinking in spective man who is now head of the Depart­
Britain and the United States. The countries ment of Fine Art.
are alike in their pragmatic concern with Atkinson's great gift has been to gather around
output, results and productivity. him a group of equally talented men and leave
The college itself does not hint at these social them alone. They are all strong individualists
and psychological goals - it is a random col­ and it is therefore surpri�ing to discover how
lection of ramshackle buildings, connected by very much alike they are in their thinking
labyrinthine corridors and loosely congregated about education. Page calls his goals 'dis­
somewhere in the middle of a bleak black city. covering how to live sane in an insane society.'
Nevertheless the building has its own style, Miles McAlinden talks about the importance
even if that is no-style. The college is destined of empathic understanding, or 'the willing­
to move soon into new square-shaped glass­ ness to see with your ears.'
and-concrete quarters. I suspect that both Roy Slade stresses the need for 'creative
staff and students are going to miss the seren­ anarchy', Willy Tirr wants to produce people
dipitous possibilities offered by their present who will 'think around corners' and Eric
floor plan and look back nostalgically on the Taylor, the principal of the Leeds College of
bad old days. Art, says that they are trying to find out what
The students can't be mistaken for anyone the individual can achieve on the theory that
else. You can spot them coming a mile away, the assimilation of knowledge comes through
since everybody else in this working-class self-discovery.
town looks solid and respectable. The Leeds College of Art was awarded the
They enjoy life, whether they are cavorting Dip.A.D. following the Summerson Com­
semi-nude in some colour film they have made, mittee's recommendations, and left alone to
or presenting an evening of student events. At develop its own approach. Page says in his
one I attended there was the obligatory no­ introduction to the Fine Art Department's
event dramatic scene, to which the audience Quinquennial Review that Leeds has subse­
Any American observer visiting the fine art politely refused to take offence, several painful quently created 'an environment which allows
department of Leeds College of Art who asks home-made movies and some exquisite satire for anything, real or imaginary, to be con­
in all innocence, 'What does a student need about scientific double-think. cidered as the raw material of art, and the
to know in order to graduate?' is met by There is a light-hearted, antic quality about temporary suspension of the influence of
polite amusement. The concept that students their behaviour, a kind of innocent spontane­ social necessity or historical art as governing
should be judged by the techniques they have ity which seems to suggest that the college is factors in the search for creative directions
learned has been abandoned by the Leeds achieving its goal of loosening them up. What ... We do not postulate the art that exists as
staff since the mid-nineteen fifties when is not possible to determine from a quick visit a model for the art that can be made.
Harry Thubron first formulated his theories is how far and how deeply this invitation to 'The student is directed to self-ish inquiry,
of art education there. inner freedom is penetrating and what the materially and intellectually, and encouraged
Over the years, a painstaking reassessment eventual results will be. to respond to those primary clues within him­
has produced an educational experiment at What is clear is that a number of creative self which . . . will enable him to make an
once humanistic, anarchistic, and far-reach­ people are gravitating towards the environ­ original contribution in a form most consis­
ing in its ramifications, in which the process ment that Leeds College of Art has achieved·. tent with his true interests.'
is more important than the end result. For the Cornelius Cardew comes up to give a prem­ Atkinson says, 'We have had five years in
staff believes that its students come equipped iere performance of a new work; George which to interpret the Summerson report and
with enough technical knowledge but are Brecht, the American, comes and goes. I think that this has been done with success.
seriously lacking in the essential equipment: Artists and visitors-Walter De Maria, Richard In this country, science is the great mystique;
that is, a creative attitude towards their work, Hamilton, Yoko Ono, Alan Davie, John it's legalized witchcraft. There was a great
themselves and their lives. Tilbury, Terry Frost, Bruce Lacey, Victor need to balance this with an interest in the
What is being attempted here is a way of Pasmore, Jasia Reichardt, George Melly, humanities. A lot of young people have con­
putting the student back in touch with those Pat Heron, Jeff Nutall-have all been pulled sequently gone towards the arts, but they

Contributors EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH, poet and critic; recently returned MICHAEL KUSTOW is Director of the Institute of Con­
temporary Arts and some time ago collaborated with
from a visit to Scandinavia. He is currently working on
to this issue a book on 'The Arts since 1945'. Peter Brook in the Aldwych production of 'US'.
WILLIAM TOWNSEND, has been on the staff of the Slade MERYLE SECREST writes for the Arts page of the Washing­
School of Art since 1949, and is Professor of Fine Art, ton Post.
University College, London. He has had one-man
exhibitions in London at Roland, Browse & Delbanco, VERA LINDSAY has published interviews with Picasso,
and at the Leicester Galleries. Henry Moore and Oskar Kokoshka.
ANDREW FORGE is head of the Painting Department at FRED BROOKES teaches in the Fine Arts Department at
Goldsmith's College. Kewcastle University.
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