Reviews
Lori Waxman
60 WRD/MIN ART CRITIC
published in HNA (Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeineszmtag)
"They will recognize the soul-searching, the yearning, the sweetness and the aimlessness of the individual characters; their big, bold takes on life; their combination of innocence and experience."
"What does it take to tell a compelling story today? Renowned young novelists like Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicolle Krauss weave their narratives from multiple points of view, at multiple points in time, in multiple voices. To follow along, the reader must be a practiced multitasker, who can text and talk and walk and chew gum at the same time. My grandmother, who has been reading books for eighty years, can’t hack it. She would capitulate on first sight of Jacob Garbe’s “From Closed Rooms, Soft Whispers,” a story told through digital collages, text projections, interactive reality software and a mechanical wooden cabinet with six drawers that open to reveal various objects and bits of text, but only after being knocked six times.
And that’s okay, because this story isn’t for her. The tale of R., G. and B., three childhood friends now in their early twenties, is for people of that age and younger. They will recognize the soul-searching, the yearning, the sweetness and the aimlessness of the individual characters; their big, bold takes on life; their combination of innocence and experience. And they will know how to read a postmodern story like this, by holding together many small stories at once, and by using devices and bodies as one."
Lori Waxman
60 WRD/MIN ART CRITIC
published in HNA (Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeineszmtag)
"They will recognize the soul-searching, the yearning, the sweetness and the aimlessness of the individual characters; their big, bold takes on life; their combination of innocence and experience."
"What does it take to tell a compelling story today? Renowned young novelists like Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicolle Krauss weave their narratives from multiple points of view, at multiple points in time, in multiple voices. To follow along, the reader must be a practiced multitasker, who can text and talk and walk and chew gum at the same time. My grandmother, who has been reading books for eighty years, can’t hack it. She would capitulate on first sight of Jacob Garbe’s “From Closed Rooms, Soft Whispers,” a story told through digital collages, text projections, interactive reality software and a mechanical wooden cabinet with six drawers that open to reveal various objects and bits of text, but only after being knocked six times.
And that’s okay, because this story isn’t for her. The tale of R., G. and B., three childhood friends now in their early twenties, is for people of that age and younger. They will recognize the soul-searching, the yearning, the sweetness and the aimlessness of the individual characters; their big, bold takes on life; their combination of innocence and experience. And they will know how to read a postmodern story like this, by holding together many small stories at once, and by using devices and bodies as one."