Born in Holland in 1942, Ader settled in Los Angeles in 1963 after sailing across
the ocean from Morocco. Throughout his brief career, he experimented with film, photography,
installation, and performance, often using himself as the main subject or actor. He
saw art and life as literal as well as metaphorical journeys, and made art as part
of a search for answers. His work has influenced and inspired successive generations
of artists who see art not only as a journey, but also as a process of discovery.
As Ader once wrote, "The sea, the land - the artist has with great sadness known they
too will be no more." ...
In 1975 at the age of 33, in a boat somewhere off the coast of Cape Cod, Bas Jan
Ader died, or disappeared. Attempting to challenge the boundaries between art and
life, Ader was crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a 13-foot sail boat as part of The Search
for the Miraculous, a multi-part work.
Read more
http://www.basjanader.com/