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Play the Kooth Game!
How many differences can you find between the two Kooths?
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Kooth, 1985, whereabouts unknown
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2th Kooth, 1987, collection of Elizabeth Berrien's husband Nick Viesselman, whereabouts known
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About the Kooths
Elizabeth Berrien first came to the notice of Nick Viesselman in 1964, when they both showed up at a church Halloween social dressed as beatniks. Nick bore more than passing resemblence to Maynard G. Krebs.
Having attempted and failed to faze Elizabeth for her feat of breaking the gender barrier of the local high school's Under-Achiever's Group, Nick struck up an intermittent conversation with her that continues to this day.
During the height of the 60's, [summer of 1967], Nick took Elizabeth on their first date - to the county fair, where they spent a thrilling day calculating just how the carnival games were rigged and otherwise explored the underpinnings of the exhibits. They had a short but unforgettable summer together, which somehow involved used bookstores and coffee houses in Berkeley, fine rock 'n' roll and blues at the Fillmore, movies like Morgan, Black Orpheus, the President's Analyst and The Knack, traversing San Francisco to the zoo, the beaches and elsewhere in Gollum, Nick's right-hand drive 1951 MGTD.
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Alas, the mothers of the two eventually took note. They decided that a girl of 16 was too young to be dating a 19-year-old. Draconian measures were implemented, and the two sweethearts were parted - their lives to lead off in different directions for the next 18 years.
Their paths reconverged in 1985. Nick, by now a rocket scientist (instrumentation engineer) visited Elizabeth Berrien's first museum exhibit in Los Angeles.
When Elizabeth told Nick her policy of "thou shalt not turn down a preposterous commission", his response was instantaneous. "Everyone at the rocket patch always sez, 'The man ain't got no kooth.' Well, I need something I can point at and say, 'Hey, I have too got me a kooth!'"
Some discussion went into the exact nature and appearance of a Kooth. Nick wanted something upside-down, like a sloth, to account for the last three letters of Kooth. Elizabeth elected to adapt a komodo dragon for the two lead-off letters, hence a kooth is mostly an upside-down komodo dragon.
Elizabeth twisted together the 2-dimensional Kooth in a fit of whimsy, and mailed it to Nick the following day. He suspended it in his workplace and pointed to it with pride whenever the traditional slurs were tendered.
In 1987, Elizabeth's once-peaceful existence, weaving wire animals in a snug Mendocino cottage, was forever reconfigured when Nick arrived at her doorstep for a tumultuous ten-day stay. Following which, she traveled to stay a couple weeks with Nick in Lompoc, where he launched rockets at Vandenburg AFB.
At some point, Elizabeth inquired about Nick's Kooth and discovered it had gone astray. Determined that he should never be lacking in Kooth, she created a second, or "2th" Kooth for him. In honor of the circumstance, she wove a tiny heart into 2th Kooth, and gave it a tiny wire Jolly Roger flag to wave.
The two were married in 1988. They moved north to Eureka CA in 1989. Nick still has got his Kooth.
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Nick and Elizabeth, with family at Christmas.
We're still curious about the original Kooth's adventures. If it's slithered into your life, let us know!
We'd love to hear from you, and Elizabeth will happily make you a new one in exchange for it...
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World Class Wire Sculpture · Elizabeth Berrien
Inquiries: (707) 445-4931 · Email: wirezoo@earthlink.net
Content and images copyright © 1968-2006 Elizabeth Berrien. All rights reserved.
Updated Jan 5, 2005 · this page valid HTML 4.01
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