“I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.” This is Ho’oponopono, a powerful Hawaiian prayer for forgiveness. These four phrases are uttered while thinking about the person you believe has caused you harm, yourself included. By taking responsibility for whatever role we play in how we feel, and expressing gratitude and loving kindness, we are released.
Since 1995, Danish artist Michael Elmgreen and Norwegian artist Ingar Dragset have collaborated under the name Elmgreen & Dragset. Creating sculptures, installations, and performances that draw connections between art and architecture, public and private space, they pose questions about how art is exhibited and experienced. Elmgreen & Dragset’s It’s Never Too Late to Say Sorry (2011) consists of a display case containing a polished aluminum megaphone on a granite pedestal. Every day at noon, a man takes out the megaphone and shouts: “It’s never too late to say sorry.” Both sculptural and performative, It’s Never Too Late is an evocative reminder of the power of language, gesture, and action.
