Broken Fall (Organic) 1971

Bas Jan Ader made this black and white photograph, *Broken Fall (Organic)*, by capturing a real moment of falling. It’s about gravity, of course, and the human body's relationship to it, the vulnerability and humor in a situation like this. It makes me think about the performative aspect of art, of life. The image has a grainy texture and a soft focus. You can see him mid-fall, arms outstretched, as if he’s trying to fly. The tree seems to be both the cause of and witness to his predicament. The branch he’s fallen from is horizontal, contrasting with the other branches and the vertical trees. It's a still image that captures a moment in time, which, paradoxically, is all about movement. It reminds me a little bit of Buster Keaton, and how he dealt with physical comedy. Both of these artists were exploring something about the human condition, about failure, and about the absurd. Ultimately, I think art is most interesting when it embraces these sorts of ambiguities, when it doesn't try to give you all the answers.