Perpetual motion, the action of a device that, once set in motion, would continue in motion forever, with no additional energy required to maintain it. Such devices are impossible on grounds stated by the first and second laws of thermodynamics. perpetual motion.
As a definition of the title "Perpetual Motion" it may help the scientific among us as it is grounds in physics. What happens when it is applied to human behavior and events?
The flaming rocket caught in the branches of the tree headed to the left. It is contrasted by the 3 partial figures headed to the right. We pull in the two directions. The figures are in perpetual motion as they rush to get somewhere. An unknown destination.
Much of life is repetition and with no real destination in mind. We merely exist and our ultimate destination is never defined.
This is the day, and we engage it with either negative ideas or positive while we truly have little or no control over our destiny. So many painful examples come to mind.
As I read "The Lost Sons of Omaha" by Joe Sexton the thought of the unknown destination even if it is death is unclear. I would strongly recommend this excellent book.to all as I helps better grasp the implications of the internet and the constant need to seek the truth not a distorted version of the truth.
Indeed we responsible for our actions and also need to recognize that our environment and community create the framework for many twists and turns. Brother Thomas wrote “We are not really whole until we take on responsibilities for others and for the whole world” Perpetually!!!
Bernard H. Pucker, BAK a Day, January 6, 2024
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In a lush and mountainous landscape, a block of stone stands wedged into the roots of a tree. Within the stone, a running body is carved, punctuated by what looks like bullet holes. Three bullets have landed in his back, a fourth and fifth into the painted blue background. And yet, a man comes out the other side, as unscathed and bleach white as the man who entered on the left. Could it be that these are three separate realities, a man who, if he had been a second earlier or a second later, would not have been shot? Or is it that by freezing the scene, and keeping his subject in “perpetual motion,” Bak keeps a dead or injured man alive. Like Prometheus, the Greek god of forethought doomed to have his liver eaten by an eagle each day, the man is always on the precipice of injury, always shot, and always almost dead all at once.
Above the scene, a rocket has crashed into the tree. Caught within the branches, its engine still burns and smokes only a few feet above the man's head. As he runs for his life, caught in an endless cycle of bullets cutting into his stone flesh, the rocket promises to end the “perpetual motion” at any moment, and without warning. The man cannot stop running, cannot accept that he will die either way. It is as if Bak is telling us that whatever suffering there is in our lives, there may always be something more dangerous up above. While Bak controls the man, we have no choice but to accept our unpredictable fate.
Jocelyn Furniss (Guest writer)
BAK a Day, February 11, 2023
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Tragically, the magician Houdoni comes to mind as the multiple figures appear and disappear on, in and through the bizarre structure at the center of the painting. Constant motion and going nowhere.
A visual comment on modern life. Always rushing but never caught. The reality of the unreality.
Add the tree with the bird-like flaming rocket trapped in the branches as the questions abound. Are we witnessing the Russian rocket attacks on civilians?
To what end other than the continuing killing of civilians for the sake of past glory?
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