The "O" is the eyeball within the seeing EYE that sees all. As if the Cubists had inspired this remarkable image!
The conflation of images:
The cup
The spoon
The eye
The eyeball
The question mark
The handle of the teacup
The bird
The rainbow
The bricks of the wall
The bricks of the ovens
The mini cup, saucer and spoon
All images of the Bak visual lexicon. And how to create the story!
Each viewer is invited to create their own tale and collection of associations. The pieced together bird helps to complete the lip of the cup, as well as the ovoid space of the eye. The rope adds to this shape. Within our face the eyes help us to see. Seeing within the art of Samuel Bak asks that we consider the multiple layers of meaning and multitude of questions that this construction raises.
How can a cup contain so many images as listed above? How to they combine to produce a selection of ideas and questions.
Who has had coffee or how would this cup hold the liquid? Are any of these utensils to be used or do they serve to recall a moment or experience that was? Is there a sense of hope or renewal present?
Bernard H. Pucker, BAK a Day, March 19, 2024
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If not the master of questions, then who? So many questions here:
When is a cup a cave?
When is a rainbow the rim of the cup?
When is the Dove of Peace not a dove of peace?
When is a spoon sculpted out of stone?
When is an eye pupil an empty O?
When do ribbons of color speak of the broken Covenant?
When does a blue handle suggest a question mark?
When does a black bird make you feel uneasy?
Just a few of the questions that this small painting provokes.
The all-seeing eye or O manages to be vacant. The setting for it, however, does refer to a universe in disarray. And there is a suggestion of civility in the presence of a whole miniature cup and spoon.
Maybe we can have our cup of Tea and reflect on our world with a sense of our possibilities to repair it while remembering its brokenness.
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