There is a moment of calm that settles onto the landscape now that “the sky is clear.” A man rests momentarily with a hammer in hand, leaning back as he waves to another man walking further away in the background. Beside him sits a monstrosity of a machine: metal scraps are held together with giant nails, an ominous hammer lying off in the distance. One nail pierces through the windows of the skeleton of a home, walls without any life within. The piece sits on wheels, with the viewer left to wonder where this assembled piece is meant to go. What is its purpose? What can the man do with his small hammer in contrast with the giant hammer?
In the chaos there is a calm, even an ennui, that contrasts the dark foreboding creation. It sits idle, its purpose unclear.
Yet how long will this calm last? What proceeded it? Bak gives us no concrete answer. Instead, we must only focus on this singular moment. Without fear of the past or the future, we can be content with the present.
The Sky may be clear but the foreground is not.
A landscape of destruction appears. Beyond repair.
The impaled house is held aloft by the nail.
The hammers emerge as the severed supported tree frame this scene.
A solo repair man rests with hammer raised.
What difference does a clear sky make?
Contribute
You are in possession of valuable information about this artwork and want it published on the website in the catalogue raisonné?
Please write to us:
.jpg)
Contribute
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest