The Lab Mag: Form, Vol. 1

‘An exploration of the architecture of almost everything’

A beautifully produced piece of collectable print from The Laboratory Arts Collective, a creative duo involved in the film industry, The Lab Mag brings together work from a global community of artists. As always, each themed issue combines removable inserts, lush gradients and content that is painstakingly mined from deep and diverse sources. 

This edition of The Lab Mag is titled ‘Form’, with editor Louise Salter’s opening letter leaning into the theme’s constant state of flux: 

‘Form is not as stable as one would think. We were surprised at the way this edition refused to be grounded, and so we embraced the alchemy. The transference of one idea to another… Ultimately, this edition takes form in a web of connections.’ 

Inside, regular contributor Ava Bellows pens a poignant piece on the Frankensteinian nature of humanity—‘stitched together by other people’s habits, their syntax, their shadows’; Ellen De’s ‘Neo-Brutalism’ series places emphasis on unadulterated form, viewing brutalist structures in a vacuum devoid of their usual historical and contextual trappings; and, the team sit down with the English artist and renowned musician Daniel Blumberg—his score for ‘The Brutalist’ won a BAFTA in 2024—to discuss the symbiotic relationship between drawing and composing. Elsewhere, you’ll find an interactive catalogue of work from Dhiren Dasum, showcasing his uncanny faces and spaces, and Suki Smith plays a game of word association with sculptor and performer Bruce McLean.