A Cog
in the Machine
by Sarie Nijboer
I
what I do is struggle against this
with the system
I don’t give up
from within the system
but I don’t stand a chance
in the efficiency of bureaucracy
I am just a cog in the machine
a progressive fall
following rules that make no sense
to achieve goals I don’t necessarily want
in times of political instability
new laws are made every day
as a form of political activism
used by politicians
suggesting absolute truth
and absolute knowledge
the Kafkaesque system easily holds a stand
II
hours I spend
correcting the form
calculating the differences
still
I can’t find the gap I search for
the mistake I make
don’t fit in this order
I loose a sense of care
but all I need
is someone that cares
I am in a loop
a nightmare fusion
of bureaucracy and capitalism
I calculate the differences
correct the form
hours I spent
Sarie Nijboer’s practice moves between curating, designing and art writing. She is fascinated by how conversational formats can be used as a tool to transform institutional structures and activate critical thinking. This is reflected in a multitude of projects exploring the relationship between objects, language and audience, with an emphasis on “performative”, “discursive” and “process-oriented” projects. Sarie is co-founder of textur and was previously co-organizer of Conversas Berlin. She participated in the Pink Island Research Residency in Jeju, South Korea in 2018 and is a former fellow for art coordination at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart from 2019-2020. Since 2020 she is a board member of Kunstverein anorak e.V.