Body,blood sweat and tears
’I’m too sad to tell you’ by Bas Jan Ader.I find this piece quite unsettling.Not due to the fact that it is a male crying but due to the fact that I feel like it’s a private moment that us,the audience are sat in on.You want to stop watching, but almost like car crash television you can’t.I feel that this piece would of been very controversial for its era.As men were told not to cry, otherwise it would destroy their image of masculinity.And I personally think that the artist wanted to raise awareness of this issue and get the message across of how every man cries and how it is acceptable to cry.But in this era,personally I don’t feel like it’s nothing new as men are free to express their emotions whether they want to or not.So I feel like the value of this message was a lot more important and stronger back then than it is now.
Born 19th April 1942-disappeared 1975 Ader was a Dutch performance and conceptual artist as well as photographer.Due to the nature of his work it was often presented as photographs and films.He made performative installations.
Ader was lost at sea in 1975 after attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the American cost to England.Altho the boat was later found off the coast of Ireland in 1976 it is still unknown what happened to Ader.
Ader was a conceptual artist whose works mostly came to fame in the 70 ‘s.He is mostly known for photography,film,video, performance and installation.
Other associated artists of this movement during that era include: Joseph Beuys,Bruce Mclean and Gilbert and George amongst many others
Resources : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas_Jan_Ader
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