This autumn, FACT reflects on a year of experimentation, innovation, and creativity, inviting audiences to experience a new exhibition showcasing artworks developed in Studio/Lab. Located on the top floor of the building, Studio/Lab is a vibrant creative hub shaped by artists, for artists—where ideas are sparked, shared, and developed through collaboration and play.
Designed to support Liverpool and the North West’s flourishing creative communities, Studio/Lab embodies FACT’s commitment to nurturing emerging talent and supporting artistic development. As the first space of its kind in the UK, it provides critical and digital resources to help artists grow their practices in new ways. Now, more than a year on from its initial trial phase—during which local artists were invited to explore and test the space—Studio/Lab has engaged over 500 creatives through workshops, masterclasses, residency opportunities and social events.
Studio/Lab is a core part of FACT’s mission to foster emerging visionaries and creative voices. The community of Artist Members brings together filmmakers, sound and visual artists, technologists, and researchers to create and test within the space. By building a nurturing and creative ecosystem that bridges learning, experimentation, and exchange, FACT ensures that technology feels useful, usable, and empowering.
Throughout its history, FACT has championed innovation through its diverse residency programmes. These paid opportunities have supported creatives at every career stage to develop their practice, expand research, and produce new work. Studio/Lab broadens the possibilities of how FACT runs and conducts its residencies, offering residents additional access to production facilities, equipment, and enriched technical and curatorial support. Further, Studio/Lab has enabled FACT to expand its support for creative talent, welcoming artists from around the world through new and existing partnerships, and strengthening the cultural centre’s role as a cornerstone of creative exchange.
In recent months, Studio/Lab has supported the development of works by artists Helen Anna Flanagan and Gavin Gayagoy, which FACT is delighted to be exhibiting as part of its autumn programme. Visitors are invited to discover two immersive installations that use the domestic setting as a way to navigate experiences of alienation through societal neglect and digital isolation. The exhibition runs from Friday 29 August to Sunday 23 November 2025.
Helen Anna Flanagan joined Studio/Lab through her Mondriaan Fund residency, using the space to develop film work Burnt Toast (2025). Combining machine learning, analogue technologies, archival materials, and a trained impersonator, the film is a contemporary ghost story that resurrects legendary British comedian Tommy Cooper. The installation at FACT features a constructed set inspired by domestic environments, referencing a bygone era echoed throughout a rundown home. Through this work, Flanagan invites audiences to consider how hidden structures—such as class, culture, and capitalism—shape lives, control actions, and leave people feeling alienated.
Gavin Gayagoy is a recipient of the 2024-25 Digital Artist Residencies launched by FACT and produced in partnership with Liverpool-based video game developer Lucid Games. He is particularly interested in using game design elements to explore how digital environments influence perception, truth, and identity. For this exhibition, Gayagoy presents a reimagined, large-scale staging of his interactive film work Doomscroll_1 (2025). The piece explores our relationship with smartphones, focusing on the sensation of “doom-scrolling”—compulsively consuming digital content, often to the detriment of mental health. Originally created during Gayagoy’s residency at FACT, the work has continued to evolve through his ongoing use of the tools and resources available within Studio/Lab.
Audiences are invited to a special after-hours event on Thursday 28 August 2025 to celebrate the launch of the exhibition. In addition to the preview, guests have the opportunity to explore Studio/Lab and meet and hear from the artists and team. Book a free ticket here.