MEDITATION XVII
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, John Donne
The above well-known, oft-quoted lines by John Donne were penned in 1623 when he was Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The words express his metaphysical view of humankind’s inherent connectedness: each and every person is part of a larger whole which is diminished by the loss of any one life. What an intensely ironic contrast to the purposeful destruction of millions of lives during the Holocaust!
Who is the “Islander” presented by Bak in this painting? A broken and reconstructed human form being held upright in a chair with straps attached to the wooden or metallic replacement parts of his torso. There is an apparent welcoming gesture of acknowledgement from the shore to the boats with full sails on tranquil waters or maybe a warning to stop and not approach.
Behind the seated figure and filling the sizable foreground of this painting are classic Bak metaphors of perilous existence. A second chair without a person holds instead a dripping candle (life’s passage). However, with the flame extinguished, the dark smoke reminiscent of crematoria rises to create a grayness which overhangs the proximal sky above our Islander and contrasts markedly with the brilliant blue of a distant vista. The chairback for this second chair was created by bending the trunk of a narrow tree with leafy branches still attached. Perhaps this is a young family tree conveying the hope of another generation, except at the seat level, one part of the trunk has been completely severed. Will the new growth survive? A connection to the rooted portion still exists so despite this insult, there is hope. A hose, which in Bak’s life space was known to carry lethal gases, runs beneath our Islander and is coiled into an infinity symbol in close proximity and maybe contributing to a small waterway feeding the larger body of water. Is this a question or a statement about the timeframe for mankind’s seemingly endless capacity to inflict pain, harm, and destruction on one another?
Despite some blue skies, white sails and green leaves, this Islander is not enjoying Margaritaville a la Jimmy Buffett. He is one man and everyman experiencing the isolation, discrimination and destruction which is made possible by creating an “other” about whom one feels no kinship. I think Bak and John Donne would counter such degrading reduction with a plea to recognize the sameness all mankind shares and if the bell tolls for anyone, it tolls for us all.
Dr. Carl M. Herbert (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, October 24, 2023
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Where to begin?
The burning candle in the pot. Is it a Yahrzeit candle or a candle of celebration?
The empty chair or the filled chair with the wooden slatted and hat-wearing figure 'blessing" the small fleet.
The tree growth out of the chair is again an impossibility but a reality in the Bak world of the Islander.
The wind filled sails enhance the moment of a beautiful sail.
Finally, the snake-like hose that weaves through the entire foreground.
All a reminder of the Garden of Eden, says Eve.
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