After the Fall: The Performative Art of Samuel Beckett & Bas Jan Ader

The article compares the work of Irish writer Samuel Beckett with Dutch conceptual artist, performance artist, photographer and filmmaker Bas Jan Ader. The author considers that both artists were inspired by slapstick comedy, seen by the continual repetition of Ader's work and by Beckett's...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Performance research 2007-03, Vol.12 (1), p.77-85
Main Author: Wilkinson, Judith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ader, Bas Jan
Beckett, Samuel
Dutch cinema
Experimental films
Imagery
Photography
Themes
Video art
Visual artists
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The article compares the work of Irish writer Samuel Beckett with Dutch conceptual artist, performance artist, photographer and filmmaker Bas Jan Ader. The author considers that both artists were inspired by slapstick comedy, seen by the continual repetition of Ader's work and by Beckett's unbalanced characters who trip each other up and repeatedly fall over. Furthermore, in their film, photography and video experiments, which took place in the 1970s before Ader disappeared at sea in 1975, both Ader and Beckett share a deliberate intention to refine, isolate and intensify their own image. While Ader drew inspiration from Piet Mondrian and Beckett from James Joyce, the author concludes that in both of their work the aura of the individual is erased.
ISSN:1352-8165
1469-9990
DOI:10.1080/13528160701398123