Moving Image
25 minutes
What makes an apology authentic? What makes spoken form authentic in the current age?
Many things are easier to say and to receive Face to face than an apology, to admit you were wrong and to take responsibility for a fractured ego in front of who you wronged.
It’s easier to say, ‘I hate you’ than ‘I’m sorry’, to avoid accountability, rather than addressing mistakes.
In the present age, we are bombarded with celebrity apology videos and posts premeditated for personal gain and exposure across our social platforms.
Apologies written and edited by PR teams, performed in effort to evoke compassion and avoid offence, are these still sincere apologies?
Titled “I’m Sorry…”, the ellipsis evokes a sense of hesitation, passive aggressiveness and an invitation for more explanation to come, but no clear narrative or closure comes.
The moving image piece opens with an image of ‘I’m sorry thank you written in sand in Morocco.
The image was sent by one of the commissioned performers with an additional price of £5 to have customised writing.
The image is the result of a language barrier and a back and forth of me requesting, ‘I’m sorry’ and a ‘thank you!’ at the end.
Something naive and innocent at first glance ushers a second upon reflection.
Displayed on a large, encapsulating screen, the videos remain squared, referring to the limited square crop on social media, offering no more context about who these people are, where they are, what they’re apologising for, and when they’re issuing these apologies.
After listening to the apology being performed repeatedly, the words become bland and meaningless.
Full 25 minute version available upon request