Art of the Day

I'm too sad to tell you (Bas Jan Ader)




Ader was lost at sea while attempting a single-handed west-east crossing of the Atlantic in a 13ft pocket cruiser, a modified Guppy 13 named "Ocean Wave". The passage was part of an art performance titled "In Search of the Miraculous". Radio contact broke off three weeks into the voyage, and Ader was presumed lost at sea. The boat was found after 10 months, floating partially submerged 150 miles West-Southwest of the coast of Ireland. His body was never found. The boat, after being recovered by the Spanish fishing vessel that found it, was taken to Coruña. The boat was later stolen.
Bas Jan Ader (born April 19th 1942) in Winschotin, the Netherlands, lost at sea in 1975 between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Ireland) was a Dutch conceptual artist, performance artist, photographer and filmmaker. He lived in Los Angeles for the last 10 years of his life. Ader's work was in many instances presented as photographs and film of his performances. He also made performative installations, including Please Don't Leave Me (1969). His work began to experience a surge in popularity in the early 1990s.

Bas Jan Ader’s “I’m Too Sad to Tell You,” is a work of art made by a Conceptual artist in a time defined by artistic and cultural rebellion. Ader’s piece contextually fits into the start of the seventies rebellion of the cultural norm. The simplicity of the piece is derived from the fact that Ader “boil[s] the representation of grand emotion down to its most basic form, a picture of someone crying in closeup” (Verwoert 18). The revolutionary and rebellious mindset of the seventies opened the door for Conceptual artists to freely express their minds, be it politically or existentially. Ader, though his life and career were cut short, was a part of this mindset and can be easily categorized as such. His abstract works were well received in the seventies and were highly influential in the development of Conceptual art. Contextually, Bas Jan Ader was a product of his environment and in turn, his environment was heavily affected and influenced by his work.

It’s pointless to discuss why Ader is crying because frankly, he was too sad to tell us his intent. However, when considering his work as a whole and within its context, it is still appropriate to question the implications of his tears. When reviewing Ader’s works, it could be determined that he was a man driven mostly by romantic ideals. His work could be an expression of his search for love (the miraculous), willingness to “fall” for love, and as expressed in “I’m Too Sad to Tell You,” his regret over love lost. This may seem like a farfetched and unfounded claim, but due mostly to Ader’s untimely death, his body of works has been heavily romanticized. As a result, Ader has been proclaimed as a “wandering tragic hero on a quest for the sublime” (Verwoert 3). In this case, “I’m Too Sad to Tell You” could be an expression of Ader’s ability to express his femininity.

http://www.forartssakemedia.com/bas-jan-ader/