Month: March 2014

Kari Marboe

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from the chapbook FOUND FORMULA (March 2014)

FOUND APOLOGY LETTERS

This is the most important letter that I have ever written, and these the most important words: I’m sorry.

We would like to sincerely apologize to the whole world for posting some fake toy ads that aroused a series of anxiety of disgust on the internet.

I know you probably don’t want to hear from me, but I still want to express my deepest apologies for sexting with your husband.

Words can’t express how sorry I am for missing your wedding.

Sorry for the mistake of which I was totally unaware of making.

I am writing to apologize for my behavior during our meeting last Wednesday.

Sorry I busted your lip yesterday with an x-box controller.

I’m sorry for including a picture of you in the backyard of your mansion wearing a bathing suit on my blog.

I’m sorry for the absurdity of this apology. It’s exactly what you asked for and entirely ridiculous.

Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experience last month with respect to the installation of your high speed internet service.

I’m very sorry I was so naughty and tried to bite you.

I’m sorry for my clothes touching yours in the closet. And for breathing your air.

I apologize if anything I have said or done has caused you embarrassment or disappointment.

You make me feel so safe, Jessica, and my apology is only for not being able to keep us together.

I’m not sorry or bothered by the fact that I broke into your house.

It was your fault anyway, as you’re thick enough to have left your downstairs kitchen window open. I wouldn’t do that in a million years.

Posting that image of you was far too forceful an action, and I’m willing to take it down.

Even Darth Vader, an evil lord, couldn’t leave his son to die at the end of Return to the Jedi.

Dan has been a good friend to me over the years and I threw all of that away to feel good.

It was distressing to learn that the chocolate we shipped to your firm last week arrived in bits and pieces.

Maybe if you didn’t request this letter I could have forgiven you.

It was our personal trial to challenge creativity, but we got carried away.

I had a bath and went to the vet earlier that day, so I was feeling scared.

He approached me in a flirtatious way that I did not ignore.

I have learned that some aspects of my conduct have not moved with the times and are considered by some to be inappropriate.

I should have waited to talk to you in private about the matter and not in front of everyone else.

It was by accident that referred to you in a disrespectful way.

I was wrong, terribly wrong. I owe it to future generations to explain why.

I went out drinking the night before and slept through the ceremony.

I returned from vacation last week and found that your complaint had not been addressed.

I’m punishing myself by giving up YouTube for a week.

It won’t happen a second time, and I will never have to give up YouTube again.

We beg for your forgiveness for such a naive and irresponsible behavior.

I blame my wife.

I promise to make it up to you soon.

Here are some rice krispy treats you can eat while I give you an apology blowjob later.

A new shipment has been sent and will arrive on May 26th.

With this note, I have corrected and apologized for Saturday’s incident.

Tell me how to make this better.

I have been your employee for three years now and would like to continue working for you.

I have let my family down, and I regret the decisions that had led to this with all of my heart.

I honestly meant no harm and hope that you can work through this.

I will no longer embrace my coworkers sensually.

We’ve had a number of staff changes which might have resulted in your letter being overlooked.

I still remain a huge supporter and will certainly vote for him in the next election.

We would like to offer you a free dinner so we can show you our usual higher level of service. 

We promise next time we will be better prepared with potatoes.

Niki Korth in conversation with Kiki North

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from the chapbook SPLIT FRAME (February 2014)

II: IS A NARRATIVE A HOUSE

4 hours later, Niki and Kiki move on to discover a new work – Omer Gal’s Naked Cave (2013; 3 Channel Video Loop, 15:29)

K: I am satisfied with my reflections on the nature of consciousness as represented in the pink feather duster. Let us now move on to the next piece.

N: Very well.

K: There are three screens here – and they are all producing different sounds. How do I know what to look at and what to listen to? Would it be easier if I had the pink feather duster?

N: Well, I don’t think that pink feather dusters have an inherent ability to help a person make decisions about how to distribute their attention span. But if you build some kind of symbolic power into what a feather duster means to you, what powers it harbors – then it might help you. But to answer your question – there’s no right and wrong thing to pay attention to. You should just… I don’t know, relax and see what attracts your interest.

K: Very well. Okay. I see a tent-like structure, which seems to be made of some kind of plastic, perhaps? It is a translucent compound – and I see a human figure costumed to appear like a wolf, a man, a woman, a hooded violinist, a female. Oh, yes, who is this woman?

N: The violinist captures your attention?

K: Yes… this violinist is an especially captivating character. Is she a muse, or a narrator? I cannot tell. She seems to be a character in her own right within the narrative of this piece, but also serves as a guide of sorts, almost like the master of a dream…

N: Yea, the narrative dimension of this piece is really interesting to me too – especially because the videos all play on loops, which intersect at different points depending on when you begin watching. Thus the narrative is like a repetitive and perpetual cycle, which to me seems more in line with the way that life is actually experienced, in contrast to the “closed totality” of most narrative works, particularly those with a clear “beginning” and “end” point (those that one watches in a single sitting).

K: Yes, I believe the violinist is the master of this so-called cyclical narrative.

N: Do you think that all narratives require a master?

K: I did not say that. But I do believe that the violinist is the master of the particular narrative we are discussing. I came across the expression “the one who pulls the strings,” and understand that it refers to the person who controls a particular operation – but somewhat invisibly, or in the background. I relate this idea to this violin player who does not pull the strings as much as she rubs strings against one another, according to a specific system, in order to produce vibrations that produce melodic sounds. But here it is both her sounds and her image that command the story.

N: Yea… And the woman playing the violin, or should I say, the woman playing the woman playing the violin, is also the hooded woman – there, who appears there with the wolf man.

K: She is the one who was feeding the wolf man? Or at least putting those objects that resemble food into his mouth. I remember they appeared as if they were made out of fabric of some sort… Can humans eat fabric? I had assumed that they cannot – and I actually conducted research on wolves recently, so I understand them to be carnivores, and thusly conclude that they do not consume fabric. Or are there some fabrics in fact made of meat?