A Pragmatic Response to Real Circumstances
- Anne Focke
- Rhiannon Vogl
In partnership with Fillip, Western Front is pleased to present a conversation with Anne Focke and Rhiannon Vogl.
In 1974, Anne Focke wrote, “The PATTERNS I make (designs) are not just abstract—they are patterns of people/artists, work, concerns, activities, energies. They are structures for the people/energies/work to use, to happen in, to be supported by, encouraged by…”
In the fifty years since this text first appeared, Focke—an artist/writer/administrator/organizer—has created a unique pattern for being in the world that provides examples of new social structures and intuitive ways of working. In this conversation between Focke and scholar/writer/curator Rhiannon Vogl, the two will explore their shared interest in alternative networks in the arts and beyond, alongside their interest in experiments with systems of support and structure that can make these networks possible.
Attendees are encouraged to read Focke’s essay, “A Pragmatic Response to Real Circumstances” (Portland: The Back Room, 2006) in advance of the conversation. Download the PDF here. The text is also available to purchase in book form through the Publication Studio network here.
See also: Rhiannon Vogl, “Lucy Lippard’s I See / You Mean,” The Brooklyn Rail, June 2023 at http://brooklynrail.org/2023/06/art_books/Lucy-Lippards-I-See-You-Mean.
About the Artists
Anne Focke is a writer, editor, organizer, and manager who has had a full work life without ever having a job that someone else had before her; either the job was new or she made up the role, the project, or the organization. She works with words, ideas, and almost always in concert with others. She has never had an easy time describing her work, though at the beginning, she simply assumed that, among other things, she was an artist. Recently she has begun to realize that it is still an integral part of her identity, expressed lately through writing. She’s always lived on a thin financial margin and probably likes it that way. She’s happy to be in her upper 70s, exploring this phase of life with enthusiasm and purpose. Some of her “formal” jobs have included: first staff person for Seattle’s arts agency; a founder and the director of and/or, an artist space in Seattle; founder and director of Arts Wire, an online network for artists/arts; and first director of a nationwide (US) association of arts funders—Grantmakers in the Arts—and editor of its journal, the GIA Reader. She believes that some of her most important work is more informal and often “in-between”—putting together lots of conversations, organizing short-term projects, solving problems, big-picture thinking, and making connections.
Rhiannon Vogl is a PhD candidate in Art History at the University of Toronto. Her research is broadly concerned with the intersections of art criticism and publishing with conceptual and postmodern art and on self-reflexive modes of art writing. Her dissertation focuses on the lesser-known fiction writing of art critic Lucy Lippard and its present-day republication. This research was funded by a Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Rhiannon’s writing has been published in RACAR Journal, The Brooklyn Rail, Border Crossings, Momus, C Magazine, BlackFlash, and Canadian Art. Before starting her PhD, Rhiannon was a curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Canada.
Accessibility
The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs. While plans for a full building upgrade to facilitate access for wheelchair and scooter users are still underway, events in the Grand Luxe Hall are made available virtually via high-quality livestream with CART captions (see link above). Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here.
Acknowledgements
Presented in partnership with Fillip.
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.