As the German army entered Vilna in 1941 one of their primary goals was elimination of the Jewish people living there with complete destruction of their culture. Bak’s experience of this at the macroscopic level was the eventual destruction of his home, his neighborhood, synagogues and schools leaving in ruins a previously flourishing world. On a more personal level, the persecuted Jews of Vilna lost all of their personal items used to participate in and share common expressions of culture and civility.
Bak has developed a visual lexicon to represent these losses using damaged buildings for the larger destructive changes and teacups with spoons for the more personal, private deprivation. This beautifully painted image of a monumental teacup partially restored using the brickwork of a building wall and stones of a cobblestone street is a brilliant mixing of both these visual metaphors. The project, an attempted archeological recreation using pottery sherds and used brick, stimulates us to integrate the dynamic of a physical world and a spiritual life simultaneously and interdependently destroyed.
As with recovered ruins, these are pieces to be studied but never restored to their original, vital status. Questions arise like: What was this culture? Who were these people? Why did this devastation occur? However, all inquiries are asked retrospectively in the past tense and much has been irretrievably lost.
The normal-sized, undamaged teacup, teaspoon and napkin painted in the lower righthand corner present a sharp contrast to the other pieces. They appear fresh but are placed on an ominous red circle. Are they the utensils for the “Project” manager or does this represent a contemporary, forced absence as useless killing continues?
Dr. Carl M. Herbert (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, September 1, 2022
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