Bas Jan Ader
Director · 1942 – 1975 · Winschoten, Netherlands
Bastiaan Johan Christiaan 'Bas Jan' Ader (19 April 1942 – disappeared 1975) was a Dutch conceptual- and performance artist, photograper. His work was in many instances presented as photographs and film of his performances. He made performative installations, including Please Don't Leave Me (1969). Ader was lost at sea in 1975, attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the American coast to England sailing in a thirteen-foot sailboat. His deserted vessel was found off the coast of Ireland on 18 April 1976, offering few clues as to his fate. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movies7
Movie6.0DocumentaryBas Jan Ader's first fall film shows him seated on a chair, tumbling from the roof of his two-storey house in the Inland Empire.
Fall 1
1970 · 2 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryBas Jan Ader rides his bike into a canal in Amsterdam.
Fall 2
1970 · 2 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryThe life and work of enigmatic Dutch/Californian conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader, who in 1975 disappeared under mysterious circumstances at sea in the smallest boat ever to cross the Atlantic. As seen through the eyes of fellow emigrant filmmaker René Daalder, the picture becomes a sweeping overview of contemporary art films as well as an epic saga of the transformative powers of the ocean.
Here Is Always Somewhere Else
2007 · 3 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryThis short film is part of a mixed media artwork of the same name, which also included postcards of Ader crying, sent to friends of his, with the title of the work as a caption. The film was initially ten minutes long, and included Ader rubbing his eyes to produce the tears, but was cut down to three and a half minutes. This shorter version captures Ader at his most anguished. His face is framed closely. There is no introduction or conclusion, no reason given and no relief from the anguish that is presented.
I'm Too Sad to Tell You
1971 · 4 votes
Movie3.5DocumentaryShot in his garage-studio, the camera records Ader painstakingly hoisting a large brick over his shoulder. His figure is harshly lit by two tangles of light bulbs. He drops the brick, crushing one strand of lights. He again lifts the brick, allowing tension to accrue. The climax inevitable—the brick falls and crushes the second set of lights. Here the film abruptly ends, all illumination extinguished.
Nightfall
1971 · 2 votes
Movie5.5DocumentaryOne of a series of ‘falls’ by Bas Jan Ader that he recorded on film, this work was filmed in West Kapelle, Holland in 1970.
Broken Fall (Geometric)
1971 · 2 votes
Movie6.0DocumentaryBas Jan Ader hangs from the branch of a tall tree, until he loses his grip and falls into a river below.
Broken Fall (Organic)
1971 · 2 votes