The Looking Glass Workshop is an Indie/Underground music label and art collective created by Justin Emerle. As a label, the Looking Glass Workshop has put out many underground acts, mainly in the Philadelphia area, including the Echo Orbiter.
The Workshop, as an arts collective, had assembled many gatherings throughout the Northeast United States, and has worked with many aspiring artists promoting an experimental intelligentsia. As a sort of art movement, the Looking Glass Workshop embodied no particular style, but rather comprised a multitude of eclectic, self-promoting, and talented artists, poets, writers, film-makers, and musicians throughout the Philadelphia area. Some include: Echo Orbiter, The Shiver Bones group (artists), the Three-Penny Eggplant Symphony, Alka, the Edison Proposal, Hiroshima, the Flying People, NetWT and many more, even a wrestler Lobo. In addition, the Looking Glass Workshop also houses the recording studio of the same name. Acts such as Echo Orbiter have recorded there, producing albums and music for film. At its height, the collective seemed poised to define a new Philadelphia artistic style. Though this was never fully realized, the Looking Glass Workshop was able to elaborate on the late 90's music/art scene already building in the underground. Such events as First Friday art gallery exhibitions and the many music festivals were regular hang outs for members of this diverse subterranean culture. Today, the Looking Glass Workshop seems to have somewhat disbanded, as collectives usually do, with each artist heading in one of a variety of paths. Consequently, its impact has recently been quite limited. Nonetheless, the Looking Glass Workshop remains an underground inspiration to many young artists.
References
- Brett Burton (2000). "Through the Looking Glass: A Peak Inside the Strange World of the Echo Orbiter."
- Echo Orbiter Myspace "About Echo Orbiter"
