Bas Jan Ader
(1942 - 1975)
I´m Too Sad To Tell You, 1971
Video
Approximative time: 3min 21 sec
In some of his best-known works, Bas Jan Ader stages and documents failure itself. Whether rolling off the roof of a house, falling from a tree or riding his bicycle into one of the canals of Amsterdam, the idea of falling or failing serves as a metaphor for the artist to think about the human condition. In I Am Too Sad To Tell You, Ader records his inconsolable crying in a series of photographs and a silent black-and-white film. The artist’s voice can be heard clearly in the confessional tone of the title: overcome by sadness, he transforms his inability to communicate the reason behind his tears into the subject of his work. Apparently vulnerable, Ader invites us to reflect on the fragility of all people.