To me, it’s one of those words that gets appended to things; collective, personal, federal, media, creative, and in being so prevalent has had its meaning diluted. However, as a stand-alone, it’s a wonderful word; one of my favourites. It’s the realisation that you are in control and you can decide the direction and shape of your circumstance.
It’s the secret to a meaningful life. It’s personal power.
Personally, as a white Anglo male, agency is all around me. I have always had access to support and the levers of personal progression, but not always the realisation that they were there. That came with self-reflection and maturity. My story of personal realisation was probably on the commencement of this phase of my life in Perth. Understanding that I had to be an active part of the betterment of the city I live in.
Nic Brunsdon is Director at Design WA, an initiative of the State Government to ensure that design is at the centre of all design.
Bo Wong and Rose Megirian’s second collaboration for our journal,
Ground Work
, provides insight into the depth and breadth of practice of a select group of multi-disciplinary Western Australian artists who have paired their creative process with commercial capacity.
Left (l to r)
There’s a proposition (not a new one) that crops up on social media every year or so; who you buy an artist’s work you you also buy the artist space and time (literally and metaphorically) to explore, experiment, test, push boundaries and ideate.
As Weintraub would have it, ‘production and consumption comprise complementary aspects of art’s cultural course’1. A purchase provides agency and this agency allows an artist to act and work independently; to contribute to a cultural landscape, shift ideas and create discussion.
Economic stability allows an artist to thrive as a citizen and to participate in political, social and cultural debate.
Rose Megirian, 2017(l to r)
As an audience, and as members of a democratic and
diverse society, we have a vested interest in supporting artists who observe, critique
and provide us with an alternative view of ourselves.
We showcase here a selection of artists we view as straddling the creative and the commercial. Simultaneously, they challenge our paradoxically limited ideas about whether something should or shouldn’t be considered art. Unique, hand-crafted objects are made by professional artists. When these objects have a function, they are sometimes described as design or decorative or craft. The necessity to designate oneself can be limiting and impacts on an artist’s agency.
Let’s celebrate the artists who broaden the definitions of their creative practice. Let’s offer them an opportunity to explore a diversity of mediums AND make a decent living. Let’s remove the obstacles to their agency for expression.
1
Weintraub, L. 2003.
Making Contemporary Art: How Modern Artists Think and Work.
Communication and the exchange of ideas are key to modern working. With fluidity and flexibility at its heart, an agency environment nurtures creativity and freedom.
The opportunity to collaborate with multiple disciplines and organisations allows fresh ideas to not only exist in thought but come into being.
Bringing together creatives and collaborators from all walks of life results in outcomes for clients and their audiences that couldn’t be achieved when working in a silo.
Being nurtured within an agency creates a space where ideas and relationships flourish.
Agency is uniting.
A moment.
Working with clients after leaving my ‘traditional’ corporate life, I was able to spend time immersing myself and indulging in time to allow ideas to percolate, dissolve and re-emerge as something more precise, more effective and audacious.
I was able to bring a group of individuals together, who best suited the project execution. Through sharing and collaboration, the project developed again.
The results were rewarding and exciting to work on. Delivering more than could have been done solo or within an organisation, which often have constrained ideas of possibility– and also gave something unique to the client. We all were better for the experience.
Claire is a Director at
Detail
, a creative communications and marketing agency based in Fremantle, WA.
Starting a new practice and launching a journal has made for an exciting 12 months! Like most big moves these two things are the result of a combination of circumstance, timing and the (naïve) feeling that it was the right thing to do.
191216_Agency Journal_Overview_purple bg
Early on we created a framework for ourselves: we would produce two journals per year, with each issue focussing on a particular word, and we would describe our business as an agency. For an architecture practice this has been relatively controversial – or at least unsettling – and has generated lots of questions in our direction!
So, what better word than AGENCY to focus the second edition of our journal around. As with PIVOT, we started with our own loose meaning, have delved deeper and have learned so much through the contribution of others. AGENCY is both a noun and a verb. To be an agency and to have agency are two quite distinct things, yet for us we are interested in what it might mean to be and do both.
Architects are the ultimate problem solvers. We are trained to look to the future and to ask the question, ‘how can we build something that uses so many resources and so much money if it is redundant as soon as it is finished?’. It makes sense then, that we should use our professional agency to advocate for things that we think are important. In our experience, this is not always in places where we wear the ‘architect’ badge, but rather when we use our skills to seek solutions to problems that are not answered in buildings.
And this brings us to the allure of ‘the agency’. We have always loved the dynamic and collaborative nature of the advertising agency model. It is a world of structured pairings, of freelancers, networks and teams. There is a generosity in the development of ideas and a freedom that comes from being part of a flexible and dynamic team. As an Agency, we are creative thinkers, but we also make a declaration to be part of a team. Sometimes we might take the lead, sometimes we create a team and sometimes we are part of something greater than ourselves. With each arrangement, we find energy from working with others.
To have agency is to find a kernel of power, to pair this with opportunity, to find a way to move (sometimes by stealth) towards a better outcome. It is a way of seeing things differently, of interpreting our past and influencing a better future.
So far so good on The FULCRUM AGENCY front – we thank you all for your support.
We’ve just returned from our Christmas and New Year break which we spent watching the catastrophic bushfires in horror. Fires are burning in WA – Bluff Knoll was just closed indefinitely due to the extensive fire damage – but thus far, WA hasn’t been impacted to the unprecedented level of the east coast. These fires are a national disaster.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of human life, animal life and the destruction of so much incredible country and community.
Our Principals, Emma and Kieran, know through bitter experience the trauma of losing a home in a bush fire. The subsequent clean-up and restoration requires an effort akin to a marathon, and the emotional impact is felt for a very long time.
We are thinking through how to make the most impact using our financial and professional resources. At a micro level we’re going to start sewing wildlife rescue pouches using a template provided by the @animalrescuecraftguild.
What we do know is that the fires have taken over our minds and hearts, and that this tragedy has changed the direction of 2020. We are committed to giving and supporting the devastated communities and country in a meaningful way, with impact and dignity. We will let you know what we decide to do next.
Late last year, TF.A Principal, Kieran Wong, was interview by Frances Silberstein for an article she was writing on the topic of architecture and reconciliation. Frances is a recent graduate from the Master of Architecture program at UWA, with an interest in the relationship between First Nations Australians and architecture. This article was written following her return from an extended period overseas.
St. Joseph’s College for Aboriginal Girls, New Norcia
A couple of weeks ago we invited a few people to join us at
Wines of While
to celebrate the launch of AGENCY, issue 01 of our journal.
We’d had a big party to launch PIVOT and thought that a quiet glass of excellent wine might be a better approach as we head into the festive season.
TF.A Principal, Kieran Wong, said a few words on the night, which we’d like to share here:
I want to acknowledge that we are on Nyungar land, country that was never ceded, and that colonisation is an ongoing action which requires us to be wary, and always open to new counter-measures…
So, the Fulcrum Agency was officially launched on Monday December 3rd, 2018 – that’s actually 238 working days….and we’ve managed to pack quite a bit in…
We’ve been busy growing an incredible team, working on projects from the NMP in Perth, to QAMPI in Minjerribah, Qld and across the Northern Territory – from Elliot to Maningrida and of course, Groote Eylandt. We’re enjoying collaborating with partners such as Lyons Architecture in Melbourne, KPMG in the NT and locally here with Mt Eyk and Arcadia.
We were Founding Signatories to Architects Declare Australia – calling for recognition and action on the climate emergency that faces all of us. I recently joined a panel with Peter Newman on what we can do in WA to radically and immediately change our fundamental operating model in the built environment.
We established the Fulcrum Research business, with Dr Jen Lorrimar-Shanks leading the initiation and scoping study for us on a measurement tool to be used in public and social housing.
We conducted a community housing survey in language across major communities in Groote using local Traditional Owners and Indigenous participants.
We are Principal Investigators on a joint Research Pilot with the University of Queensland and Monash, researching best practice design models for quality of life indicators on the Room to Breathe program, funded by the Northern Territory Government. The RTB program is close to our hearts, having written the Program Guidelines.
We are partnering with Monash on an ARC Linkage Grant on a large scale study of Mental Health in the architectural schools and workplaces.
Emma and I are co-directors of next year’s National Architecture conference, to be held here in Perth – the theme is ‘
leverage’
(cute, I know, from us Fulcrum types) and we are excitedly connecting with activists, writers, politicians, designers and thinkers globally to bring some of the best minds to Perth next year.
So – onto the Journal – yet again, the making of the journal has highlighted the incredible creativity, ingenuity and generosity of our contributors – as always, we have looked outside of architecture to learn from people and projects that inspire us and create impact.
It’s called Agency – and of course we love this word…it’s a noun and verb – to BE an agency and to HAVE agency are two distinct things, yet we are interested in how we can BE and DO both!
Coming into the end of the year can be a blur, but we are trying hard to keep a longer view – about what we can do next – the Agency is committed to make positive impacts across our profession, and more importantly in communities in which we work.
TF.A Principal, Kieran Wong’s latest article to be published on The Conversation questions the historical presentation of First Nations culture in museums, and suggests that a better approach may already be at play in many contemporary cultural institutions.
As always, his article has sparked debate amongst readers, with many offering divergent opinions within the comments. We’d be keen to hear what you think.
“While much work is being done to improve equity and fairness in the workplace, many women face the relentless challenge of balancing their job with the lion’s share of domestic labour and parenting duties.”
