July 21, 2025
I neglected to mention it at the time, but back in March of this year I was invited by Robert Hutchison Architects here in Seattle to participate in one of their rhaRIFFS sessions. As they describe it:
This is a seasonal event that we started in 2018, with the intention of inviting people who we are interested in to come to our studio for an informal conversation over wine/beer/refreshments and small bites. We invite four to five presenters and three to four ‘guest conversationalists’ to join us (along with the six of us from RHA). The presenters can present anything that they want to, with the caveat that it should in some way relate to the theme that we give them.
If presentations are to be slideshows, they should follow the rules of pecha kucha slide presentations; 20 slides that automatically change every 20 seconds, for a total presentation time of 6 minutes 40 seconds. You are also permitted to do videos, or a mix of video and slides, or even just stand and talk without visuals, but the presentation length requirement of 6 minutes 40 seconds remains the same… We select a topic for each rhaRIFFS simply as a conversation starter. Presenters should feel free to address the topic in any way that they wish to. We have no preconceptions regarding what you might present.
I was invited at the suggestion of our mutual friend, the curator Beth Sellars. The theme for this session was “Found Objects, Found Spaces,” and the other presenting artists were Kate Clark, Helen Gamble, Julia Monte, and Alison Stigora, all of whom were previously unfamiliar to me. Public speaking is not my strong suit, and the Pecha Kucha format was slightly intimidating. 6 minutes and 40 seconds! On the other hand, making a slide show with sound samples meant I wouldn’t have to actually speak; I just had to layer brief yet evocative blurbs onto each slide. That took a little time but I finally figured it out. It was good to get out and meet some new people after COVID and crank up my rusty social skills. The other artists’ presentations were all quite interesting and it turned out to be a very enjoyable evening. My slide show is below.