Paired with the equally somber title "Silent Echo", Samuel Bak’s 2020 painting depicts a landscape occupied by a gathering of broken bottles and teapots, each in its own state of disrepair. The drinking vessels are rendered useless as a result of their defects, leading viewers to contemplate their past. These were teapots and bottles purchased with the promise to hydrate and sustain life, to entertain visitors and loved ones with a delicious drink, to build a community through meeting by bringing loved ones together for a drink, or perhaps to serve simply as a thing of beauty. Upon their creation and initial use, they existed whole and with purpose; now, their collective presence suggests they have been discarded, cast aside, and long forgotten.
Though a scene composed of the rather dreary imagery of abandonment and decomposition, "Silent Echo" offers a color palette that incorporates a spectrum of blues, many of which appear bright and saturated. Bak’s brilliant shades of teal, turquoise, cyan, and cobalt vary in intensity and direct our eye through the piece. In what may be a nod to their now vibrant, though distant, past, the vessels’ range of vibrant blues contradict their deteriorating state; through all their years of wear and tear, they have managed to retain some semblance of their spirited characters.
Initially designed and crafted to bring joy to people’s lives through their crafted beauty and their service of drink, the bottles and teapots of Samuel Bak’s Silent Echo are presented as items tossed aside, disowned, and forgotten. Despite losing their functionality, the drinking vessels remain vibrant in color and character.
Lucy McGing (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, July 24, 2023
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