Four mimeographed sheets detailing a scenario with accompanying notes and diagrams for a happening in the basement of 26 Kingly Street in London. Oblong octavo (8 x 12 7/8 inches). Light green stapled paper wrappers. Spotting to wrappers, rust around staples, wrappers separated but all appears complete, sheets folded, "Sharkey?" written to one of the wrappers in blue ballpoint ink, overall good. London: 26 Kingly St. Basement, n.d. [circa 1960s].

During the 1960s, the Artists' Own Gallery operated out of 26 Kingly Street, London. Run by Keith and Hazel Albarn along with other local artists, the gallery held exhibitions, events, happenings, and other gigs. In a 2013 interview, Keith said of the space, "Hazel and I did an exhibition at what was then called The Artist's Own Gallery, and shortly after that, to cut a long story short, there was a lot of interest in what we were doing, and I was obsessed with the idea of how we relate to the environment and so on, so as far as I was concerned I was an environmental sculptor, and that meant the taking over of this gallery which was two-storey with offices above, and we turned the ground floor into a sort of walk-round sensory...madhouse really...lots of different noises, heat, temperature, funny floors, all that sort of thing. What was nice about it was that - this was then no longer The Artist's Own Gallery, this was 26 Kingly Street – anyhow the people from Hamley's, whose offices backed on to Kingly Street, little offices, and people who worked in cafes and whatnot used to come and have their lunch in this thing...I mean this was absolutely mad – because it wasn't art with a capital 'A'...then in the basement there would be some strange things going on, or we would have things going on at night."

This space hosted the first public exhibition of Malcolm McLaren's work, which was based around an environmental installation, and also exhibited the work of artists such as Hazel Albarn, Jeffrey Shaw, and Tjebbe van Tijen.

The present item represents a diagnostic for a theatrical happening in the basement of 26 Kingly St. The three pages of text contain descriptions of the event and instructions, and include slide projections, soundscapes, prisoner torture, strobe lights, searchlights, periods of darkness, and uncomfortable action taking place within the audience. There is a fourth page which contains a diagram laying out the arrangement of the audience, projection screen, and stage/platform, along with a diagnostic laying out when the actions are occurring and which overlap each other.

The only identifying information on the document is the address, "26 Kingly St. Basement" written above the diagram. Our research was unable to identify the author or authors, or to turn up any reference to the work. The handwritten "Sharkey?" on one of the wrappers may be refer to artist and journal editor John J. Sharkey (1936-2014), who worked with Albarn on other publications and contributed to the first issue of the "26 Kingly St Co-Op" journal

A fascinating and possibly unique document from an important alternative art space in 1960s London.

Book ID: 53238

Price: $1,850.00