The Keeper and Other Jars –– Encapsulating Time

"The Keeper", our piece of the week here at Fifty Two Pieces, and the "In Crowd"and "The Inside", John Buck's other jars, all have objects we know and make associations with –– current times, times we're looking forward to, times in the past. People, places, ideas, connections but each and every image invoking time for me. All of this and I start to hear Jim Croce. Take a moment and listen to "Time in a Bottle". Watch Croce, his wife Ingrid and their son AJ. Lyrics included.

A beautiful song, words and music, strung like pearls on the thread of life. John Buck's jars will never be the same for me.

What I Feel When I Look at The Keeper

John Buck has a whole series of jars, the one seen here is called The Inside.
For me, The Keeper, is about the things we keep to ourselves. The things we let others see, but not touch. Memory, sex, marriage- all pieces of ourselves the world see's but at the same time, these pieces are out of reach to everyone.
The high heels, are they about being sexy, or about being powerful? Probably both. The diamond- is it about being married, being kept? Keeping another? The knife in the hand, is this about pain and what we remember? What is it to keep something in the hand?
The dragonfly is about the jar, it interprets the jar, it reminds me of the things I use the jar for- to trap. Trapping, how is trapping and keeping the same thing and how is it different? with sex, with marriage with keeping pain through memory of pain.
The jar, below, is called the In Crowd. The titles of the jars describe in very simple terms the meaning of the piece, The In crowd The Inside. I think John Buck wants us to interpret the work for ourselves, to feel something, to explore what these symbols constructed in this way, mean to us.

The Keeper ~ A Leaf, A Shoe

I took the challenge of viewing "The Keeper" from a mere photo on the internet. It's much more compelling in person. John Buck carved each of the elements you see from jelutong wood. Starting on the left is a ethereal leaf, almost as if it could be fluttering as the dragonfly rests momentarily on what seems like a lid. Behind that is the outline of what appears to be an incised globe, perhaps the earth. All of this seems to be held up by a mannequin in a seated position. Visual symbols that independently may seem disconnected but as you let your mind go, you can perhaps feel how ephemeral our lives are and why John Buck may have wanted to preserve them. And what better way than in a glass jar, still visible but shielded.

Oh yes, there's an outline of a shoe there; perhaps I can see it because I know it's there from a previous visit to see "The Keeper" in person. But a shoe nonetheless and in this photo you see a front view of its high heeled style. The Portland Art Museum owns two other larger pieces, including "The Hawk and the Dove", shown below. Look carefully and you'll find some of the same elements of "The Keeper" repeated in "...The Dove". And for an even more intense visual experience you could head to Lewis and Clark College here in Portland where 18 foot bronze versions of these two other pieces are on permanent display.

John Buck ~ The Keeper

The Keeper by John Buck sits in an alcove on the fourth floor of the Hoffman Wing of the Belluschi Building. Children and adults are both drawn to it. Like moths to lights they must see what's inside this jar. Walk around it and they see objects that they can identify but then they also realize that the objects are connected in such a way that they see or think of other objects. Look and see how many you can find.

After that initial fascination, most people begin to talk about why John Buck put this sculpture in a jar. Most of his work is quite large whether it's wood or bronze. Here he seems to be protecting his work much like the artists who build ships in glass jars. The jar itself reminds others of home canning where families preserve the summer's bounty for eating later in the winter. We'll explore more about John Buck and The Keeper here at Fifty Two Pieces as the week goes on.