Teaching Sculpture at St Martin's School of Art in 1969

THE LOCKED ROOM

Were twelve art students really locked in a room together for entire days, each with only a two foot cube of white polystyrene for materials?

In 1969, four tutors at St Martin's School of Art initiated a new sculpture course (later designated the 'A' Course) in which students were placed in a locked studio with only their materials. The studio was locked it seems not so much to keep people in as to lock the world out. As one former student described it : ‘The door was locked, but the bolt was on the inside …’.
 

Inside the 'Locked Room' studio at St Martins, photo: Peter Harvey collection

Students were required to observe certain basic rules. They were not allowed to speak to each other. Nor were they permitted to speak to their tutors other than to receive permission to leave the studio. They worked within a prescribed set of hours but never knew when their work was complete or whether it would still be in the studio on their return the next day. They received no guidance and no feedback. Documentation was not allowed on the course. In fact, both documentation within the locked room and speaking about the course outside the locked room were expressly forbidden.

Letter from Frank Martin, Head of Sculpture, urging tutors not to speak to students about their 'locked room' experience

It's kind of spooky in a way to imagine being admitted into the sculpture programme at one of the world's most prestigious art schools to find out that no one would speak with you or teach you anything. Indeed, it's amazing that there wasn't mass revolt. Was it a groundbreaking and radically new form of teaching that redefined how art should be taught? Or was it incredibly oppressive and irresponsible, possibly even a dangerous experiment that deprived students of a real education? This is the debate and the jury is still out.

Often referred to as the 'locked room’, the course became legendary for its highly unconventional approach to teaching. As former student John Burke has confirmed "Many scholars and teachers have tried to understand and explain the 'locked room' but the truth is that only those few who participated in the course know what really happened."

Students in the Locked Room during the 'sitting' project, 1969. Courtesy Peter Harvey collection

That's why a group of former students and staff who took part in the 'locked room' have come together to share their experiences and memories and gather what little documentation and photographs exist.

Imagine that these former students and staff are now finally speaking to each other to negotiate a silence that has lasted nearly 50 years. This conversation began with a symposium organised by Anthony Davies at CSM in 2010. And they are now diligently organising and reviewing the archives and the few photographs that were illicitly taken, speaking with former students and trying to understand what really happened in the locked room and what it has meant for them and to them, individually and together.

This is how history begins. Stay tuned.

Sheila Ross, Gareth Jones, John Burke, Tom McPhillips, Garth Evans 
travelled to London last November and spent the week conducting indepth reviews of 
the archives and in discussions with other A-Course students.

by Rozemin Keshvani

Rozemin Keshvani is working with the A Course editorial board toward publication of The Locked Room, a book that will mark the 50th anniversary of the start of the A Course expected in early 2019. We are still looking to contact former A Course students whom we have not been able to locate. Please do let us know if you are out there and would like to know more about this project. Email: A Course editorial board

MayDay Rooms and CSM are working together with the A Course editorial board, helping to preserve a number of archives and providing an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning more about this unique moment in art pedagogy.