Synchro Studio

July 29, 2012

Synchro Studio - a Leigh 'anti-institution'

Synchro Studio has been established in the heart of Leigh on Sea since 1998 and has provided workspace for around 50 practising artists in its time. The studio currently has 12 members through its many incarnations, whose practice range from sculpture to painting, photography, film and installation. We've also had ceramists, printmakers and writers pass through.

There are two other original surviving members besides myself: Matthew Chambers and Paul Manners. We met each other through the very early days of the Leigh Art Trail, which has always served as a useful net-working event for disparate artists based in the area.

The studio's located in Leighcliff Buildings, Leighcliff Road and is an old turn of the century pipe factory. It's a pretty unique industrial building for Leigh as most of its 'counterparts' have been pulled down to make way for apartment blocks which has irrevocably changed the character of Leigh. We know our days are numbered - the building has had long-standing planning permission but in recent years various organisations have moved in and invested in the building which gives us a sense of short term 'security'.

Leighcliff Buildings is a well-kept secret (no longer!): people are always amazed by the richness of activity within the place - a yoga studio, a dance and drama school, a TV production company, a book distributor, various commercial enterprises...plus 3 art studios. Beyond the double green doors on Leighcliff Road lies a big old courtyard with a 'mezzanine' gallery level running all the way round, accessed by a lovely rickety iron fire escape. In the summer it's a perfect place to sit in the sun, completely hidden from the surrounding streets but within earshot of the 'urban' sounds of Leigh and the smell of the sea. It's an irresistible space for an artist studio - quiet, self-contained but not isolated from the 'real world'.

Synchro studio runs along most of the top floor, windows facing out on to the street - apart from  three small self-contained rooms it is an open plan 'art school'  layout: everyone has their own designated space within some partition walls. It's enabled us to keep the rent down by maximising the available space. Working in a shared studio does not suit everyone; it's an interesting dynamic as all your work is made 'in public' as it were, rather than 'behind closed doors'. It is both a personal and public space: all your 'experimental failures' are witnessed by others. But that also means there's a certain trust and vulnerability about working at Synchro that keeps the work 'live', makes it 'part of a conversation' with the work of others. Some of the work may never make it out of the studio but somehow possess a ‘life force’ often lost once in the gallery.

As in 'Fight Club', the first rule of Synchro is that there are 'no rules'. Many of us are currently or have worked in education so we are not keen on bureaucracy and institutionalisation. It's a shambolic, 'organic' set-up that suits us just fine. We have 'irregular' meetings, the odd open studio and last year a Christmas 'secret cinema' event in the courtyard. We also curate occasional shows including: 'Beautiful Noise' where all the artists made work in response to a chosen piece of music and the visitors wore headphones for an 'interactive' sound and vision experience, 'Line' at Campus Gallery Southend, a one word themed show that included a 'disco' light kinetic sculpture and 'Cliffhanger' in a disused industrial space off the courtyard with all the cob webs, dirt and detritus left as part of the ambience of the space.

For further information about Heidi Wigmore's work check her website www.heidiwigmore.com or email her: heidiwigmore1@tiscali.co.uk   - for further information on studio artists etc