In Search of the Miraculous
I’ve been thinking about Bas Jan Ader, a Dutch artist that decided to create a three part project called ‘In Search of the Miraculous’.
The first part:
a lonely nighttime walk from the hills of Los Angeles down to the sea, documented in photographs (‘One night in Los Angeles’)
The second part:
the Atlantic crossing (from LA to Europe)
The Third part:
a night walk through Amsterdam, mirroring the LA photographs
The first part is well documented with some great photos
The second part was a bit more tricky, Bas Jan Ader decided to sail with a 12½ foot sailboat. Quote taken from his website: ‘He claimed it would take him 60 days to make the trip, or 90 if he chose not to use the sail. Six months after his departure, his boat was found, half-submerged off the coast of Ireland, but Bas Jan had vanished.’
I found his story very interesting, specially thinking that he dedicated all his life and work exploring the romantic attraction to tragedy and the need for the sublime.
I keep thinking of the title of his triptych ‘In Search of the Miraculous’, I think of the word miraculous and his disappearing starts to make sense in respect of his work.
Wondering if he may re-appear at some point, making us guess for the impossible.
