Cranes, Clocks and Creative Chaos: The Glory Days
We sat down with Tony Thory and Nita Rao from Artspace Loughborough to hear their stories from when the town's ex generating station became its most electric art venue
In the heart of Loughborough stands The Generator – a 1930s Art Deco building that once powered Loughborough College. But from 1998 to 2006, it became something even more electrifying: home to Artspace Loughborough, a collective that had a lasting impact on the town's cultural landscape.
Colin Salsbury, interviewed by Pasha Kincaid
So Tony, what's your connection to The Generator?
Tony: I first visited briefly in 1991 when my partner did her degree show there. But our real relationship started in 1998 when Artspace held our first exhibition in the Generator gallery. That was the beginning of Artspace really putting Loughborough on the map. We exhibited there every summer until 2006 – quite a long relationship that established us as a local arts group.
And Nita, you had your degree show there too?
Nita: Yes, that was in 1991. It felt like a big show because there weren't many of us exhibiting, so I had about a fifth of the Generator space, plus some of what's now the cafe area. I could make quite big work to fill that space, which was a good way to start exhibiting.
What was Artspace like as a group?
Tony: We were 12 members to start with – painters, sculptors, mixed media artists, photographers. Quite a number were ex-graduates from Loughborough, but not all. Very varied and diverse. Right from day one, we set themes for our exhibitions. Although we were very different artists, it helped bring the shows together and give them a common thread.
Can you tell us about some of the work you made there?
Nita: For the millennium exhibition "Out of Time," I made some very, very big clocks with no hands, but they were ticking. It was like time was passing but we couldn't see it. They were quite tall – a bit like standing stones. It was really good just to have that space to make work that was made specifically for that exhibition, which I wouldn't have been able to make without The Generator.
Tony: For one exhibition in 1999, I exhibited a series of large black and white prints of images from Tibet after traveling there and realizing how critical the situation was with the Chinese occupation. I took a whole wall, actually – printed black and white images of cultural scenes in Tibet that were being lost.
The building had this incredible crane, didn't it?
Tony: Yeah, the old Herbert Morris crane! We used it a few times. In our first exhibition in '98, we had an artist, Matt Ansley, who liked making large metal sculpture. He made a giant fish form – halfway between a spaceship and a fish, about 20 feet long and very heavy. He had the idea to suspend it using the crane.
The crane obviously hadn't been used for some time, so we had some laughs trying to get the thing moving. We managed to move it in a lunatic fashion, up and down, trying to get it positioned. The hoist was working okay, so that worked tremendously well.
Sounds like Matt got even more adventurous?
Tony: laughs The following year he did something even more shocking. He secured an old caterpillar tracked tractor – some sort of agricultural vehicle with caterpillar tracks, like a little tank. He welded various structures onto it and wanted this suspended from the hoist too.
So he actually drove the tractor into the gallery! With quite a few people involved, we managed to get the crane to operate and hoisted this thing up in the air. It was phenomenal. People were amazed, to put it mildly. There was a wheel so people could spin it around in a big circle. Possibly a bit dangerous – I'm not sure what health and safety would say about it today! But at the time, nobody really questioned it.
So Tony, what's your connection to The Generator?
Tony: I first visited briefly in 1991 when my partner did her degree show there. But our real relationship started in 1998 when Artspace held our first exhibition in the Generator gallery. That was the beginning of Artspace really putting Loughborough on the map. We exhibited there every summer until 2006 – quite a long relationship that established us as a local arts group.
And Nita, you had your degree show there too?
Nita: Yes, that was in 1991. It felt like a big show because there weren't many of us exhibiting, so I had about a fifth of the Generator space, plus some of what's now the cafe area. I could make quite big work to fill that space, which was a good way to start exhibiting.
What was Artspace like as a group?
Tony: We were 12 members to start with – painters, sculptors, mixed media artists, photographers. Quite a number were ex-graduates from Loughborough, but not all. Very varied and diverse. Right from day one, we set themes for our exhibitions. Although we were very different artists, it helped bring the shows together and give them a common thread.
Can you tell us about some of the work you made there?
Nita: For the millennium exhibition "Out of Time," I made some very, very big clocks with no hands, but they were ticking. It was like time was passing but we couldn't see it. They were quite tall – a bit like standing stones. It was really good just to have that space to make work that was made specifically for that exhibition, which I wouldn't have been able to make without The Generator.
Tony: For one exhibition in 1999, I exhibited a series of large black and white prints of images from Tibet after traveling there and realizing how critical the situation was with the Chinese occupation. I took a whole wall, actually – printed black and white images of cultural scenes in Tibet that were being lost.
The building had this incredible crane, didn't it?
Tony: Yeah, the old Herbert Morris crane! We used it a few times. In our first exhibition in '98, we had an artist, Matt Ansley, who liked making large metal sculpture. He made a giant fish form – halfway between a spaceship and a fish, about 20 feet long and very heavy. He had the idea to suspend it using the crane.
The crane obviously hadn't been used for some time, so we had some laughs trying to get the thing moving. We managed to move it in a lunatic fashion, up and down, trying to get it positioned. The hoist was working okay, so that worked tremendously well.
Sounds like Matt got even more adventurous?
Tony: laughs The following year he did something even more shocking. He secured an old caterpillar tracked tractor – some sort of agricultural vehicle with caterpillar tracks, like a little tank. He welded various structures onto it and wanted this suspended from the hoist too.
So he actually drove the tractor into the gallery! With quite a few people involved, we managed to get the crane to operate and hoisted this thing up in the air. It was phenomenal. People were amazed, to put it mildly. There was a wheel so people could spin it around in a big circle. Possibly a bit dangerous – I'm not sure what health and safety would say about it today! But at the time, nobody really questioned it.
How did the town respond to these exhibitions?
Nita: We got a brilliant response because Loughborough was crying out for more stuff like that. The location was so close to the town center – it was ideal. We had passing footfall, people just curious, looking in thinking "oh my goodness, what on earth is all that?" We'd shout "come in, come in!" and they'd hover around the doorway, then come in.
We were there every day because we had to look after the gallery space completely ourselves. So we talked to people about what they were seeing, why we were making it. It was quite interactive like that.
Tony: Anyone and everyone who was interested in the arts in Loughborough soon got to know about Artspace and our summer shows because word got around. Some of the private views – the place was just packed, heaving. I remember standing up on the gallery at the top giving a speech with hundreds of people packed in. It was just an absolute mass of people.
How important was the scale of the space?
Nita: The height of the gallery was such a wonderful feature. I made very tall pieces that dominated the center space. One exhibition was actually called "Big" because we had twins that were quite young at the time, so I wanted to make the biggest thing I could with the least amount of effort and time!
I made really big hanging textile things – almost like hanging tubes from the top that came down to the floor. You could stand inside them. They really used all that height. It was nice to use all that space rather than making things people would trip over when they were trying to look at paintings.
Did exhibiting there influence your work going forward?
Nita: Definitely. It allowed me to experiment in a big way. I suppose if you've got the space, you want to make things as big as possible. I changed some pieces I'd made for other places to really go up into the heights when I showed them at The Generator.
Now I work outdoors a lot, making big things in the woods using willow and recycled materials. Maybe one day I'd like to do a big willow installation at The Generator – that would be amazing.
You even had international connections?
Tony: By 2006, we had quite an amazing year. By chance we had a contact with a college in Italy and arranged an exchange exhibition. Artspace exhibited on the fringes of the Venice Biennale that year – we shipped a whole exhibition out there.
The Italian group had an exhibition here in The Generator – very different and varied work. It was a stunning exhibition. Someone looking around said "this could be London, you know." The scale of the gallery enabled us to do contemporary work that could be on any playing field, linking with the national level.
So why did it all end?
Tony: Unfortunately, it wasn't our decision. With increasing pressures of health and safety standards, insurance, and all these issues, while the university management was focused on other things, it was just too much for them to let us continue. They didn't want the administrative responsibility.
Nita: It was very sad. We missed it a lot because with The Generator, you could make big work that filled the space. Then we went to smaller venues and everyone started making small things. We had to scale down to things like school halls and community centers. It wasn't the same.
Now The Generator is being revived as an arts center again. How do you feel about that?
Nita: It's quite exciting to see it not just being an empty building anymore – it's going to come back alive again. There's quite a lot going on in Loughborough now, but it's all quite disjointed. If everything came together with The Generator and all the other activities, it could be quite a lively scene again.
Tony: On a personal level, Artspace would be very keen to exhibit there again in some way. We've had some initial talks about resurrecting the shows. It won't be quite the same as the earlier days, but we're very excited about the possibilities.
What made The Generator special?
Nita: There aren't many towns that have anything like The Generator, even now. Other galleries have shrunk down to something quite small, but The Generator has still got its bigness, its height, its scale. That's what enables you to do contemporary work at a national level.
Tony: The industrial character of the space made it a great backdrop for art. It wasn't a pristine white gallery – it had this strong character that reflected Loughborough's heritage. We always had to paint the floors and walls ourselves to transform it into exhibition space, but that roughness was part of its beauty.
Any advice for the new Generator?
Nita: Keep it accessible. Make sure people don't feel intimidated. Art can be quite scary if you don't know about it, so make it welcoming but still thought-provoking and interesting.
Tony: The location is perfect – right in the town center where people can just wander in. That passing footfall was crucial. And don't be afraid of bold, experimental work. The Generator rewards artistic risk-taking.
