Two figures – a man and woman, both Hasidic Jews – stand before a colossal sculpture of a man of the same faith, identified by the shtreimel that adorns his head; the latter’s stone face stares blanky ahead as the two human figures stand before him. Perhaps in an effort to make a connection with this mighty figure, the man’s right hand touches the stone sculpture before him as his female counterpart rests her head on his left shoulder. Together, their dispositions invoke despondency, melancholy, and perhaps even grief.
Standing as a monument to the suffering of persecuted Jews, the sage’s head is stained by a red, rusty fluid eerily reminiscent of blood. Depicting this rusty liquid as a substitution for blood is one of Bak’s many ingenious devices and is employed to remind viewers of the horrid fate of the six million Jews who were inhumanely murdered and maimed during the Holocaust. Here, this false blood pours from the stone sage’s head, hinting at both his and many other Jews fates. The “blood” drips between his eyes, from which Bak has removed all anatomical details, such as the sage’s once vibrant irises and jet-black pupils. With these humanizing details taken from him, he is left to stare blindly into the future, in many ways mirroring all of humanity.
Lucy McGing (Guest writer)
BAK a Day, February 26, 2024
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