For his 2021"The End of a Story", Bak presents viewers with a curious composition: behind two figures – one of wood, the other flesh – a cylindrical structure is alight with fire. Bulbous clouds of smoke overcrowd and obscure bits of the blaze from our vision. The pair of men each interact with their own top hat, the left holding his and the right-most figure appearing to wear his. In addition to revealing certain truths about their respective characters, studying the men’s accessories also reveals the cylindrical building positioned behind them as a top hat. In a humorous and quintessentially Bak choice, the flames grow from the hat’s brim, the space where the item comes into contact with one’s head and mind.
Why the top hat, Bak? Well, while attempting to learn a bit of the history of top hats, I came across the “hat brim rule,” or the “hat brim line rule,” a rule used in forensic science to determine the cause of a head injury. According to the rule, injuries found below the “brim line” are most likely a result of a fall, while injuries north of said line are commonly found to be the consequences of purposeful blows. Applying this rather niche bit of information to Bak’s "The End of a Story" makes for a fascinating new perspective, especially as it relates to Bak’s figure with a bandaged head. Bak has positioned the white bandage too ambiguously to be certain of the exact location of the injury, thus leaving his audience, now aware of this “hat brim rule,” to ponder the nature of this figure’s wound. Whether it was accidental or purposeful, we are unaware; the only thing Bak has made certain here is the universal truth found in the figure’s pain.
Lucy McGing (Guest Writer)
BAK a Day, January 5, 2024
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Typically, “the end of a story” signifies resolution of conflict, or at least for some loose ends to be tied up. However, in this Bak painting conflict abounds and lingering questions remain.
In the foreground, a battered man holds a hat in hand, revealing a bandaged head, implying the presence of an injury. His hand is impaled, and his arms are sliced to pieces. He is a fractured version of what he once was, clearly at the end of a struggle. He appears in conversation with the outline of a wooden face, with two blue hats propped up on his head by rope and wood. Perhaps the man on the left holds a hat in his hand as a gesture of respect, or maybe just a sign of defeat.
There is a burning building on a hilltop in the background. The top of the structure is in the process of being destroyed by flame and smoke, which fills the top half of the composition. There is no true endpoint to chaos and violence, as it has a continuous affect. The viewer is left to write the rest of the narrative. How did the story begin if this is the end? .
Lilly Harvey (Guest writer)
BAK a Day, February 10, 2023
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If this is the end of the story what was the story?
Definitely, Hats of all kinds are off. The turret as a hat in flames. The bandaged figure is holding a hat and the figure on the right is wearing a hat which is behind the silhouette of a hat.
Who knows the multiple meanings of the hat within the Bak lexicon?
How do hats play a role at the end of this particular story?
Dignity or disguise? Well-dressed or second hand?
Another version of disaster that is occurring or has occurred.
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