In July 1975, the Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader attempted to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat that was less than thirteen ft long. This trip was the second in a planned trilogy of acts Ader titled "In Search of the Miraculous". Perhaps not surprisingly, radio contact was lost and he disappeared three weeks into the voyage. No remains were found, safe for his boat off the shore of Ireland 10 months later.

In hindsight, Ader's attempt seems overtly suicidal. However, I think there is much more meaning in his disappearance than a mysterious suicide. In several of his short films, Ader pits himself in symbolic struggles against gravity: in one he hangs on a tree branch above a creek waiting to fall, in the next he tumbles off of a roof, in another he bicycles into a canal.

His intention, it would appear, was not to fight against the forces of nature, but rather to submit himself to them; to invite gravity to work on him. In his films, Ader enacts the role of an anti-Sisyphus. There is something noble and romantic - and pathetic - in his work, all characteristics that can be found in what may be his most emblematic work, "I'm too sad to tell you". (Here's a [link] )

To get back to the sea: anyone who has lived near the sea for at least some time understands the nature of gravity - the waves are eternal manifestations of the miraculous, invisible forces to which we all must submit. The sea also is gravity, an embodiment of that mysterious power. It pulls us...

I believe Ader went on that voyage with the same purpose in mind that he had when he was dangling from that tree branch. It was only a matter of time until he fell; Ader might have symbolically struggled, but he knew with perfect clarity that in the end gravity would overwhelm him. What better, more ironic way to triumph than to submit?








_{Unrelated: Happy Birthday, Miyavi.}