Speaker 1: Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where
Speaker 1: for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories
Speaker 1: and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make
Speaker 1: it into the previous show. In last week's episode, The
Speaker 1: Silence of the Sea, we found the ghost ship Mary
Speaker 1: Celeste adrift on the Atlantic Ocean. Over the years, many
Speaker 1: theories have been put forward to explain what happened to
Speaker 1: the ship's ten crew and passengers. Today, despite the many
Speaker 1: other worldly explanations, the most popular theories tend to revolve
Speaker 1: around the nature of the cargo on board the vessel.
Speaker 1: It's been speculated that leaking vapors from the dnatured alcohol
Speaker 1: in the ship's hold might have scared Captain Briggs into
Speaker 1: thinking the vessel was about to explode. Terrified by the
Speaker 1: prospect of imminent catastrophe, the passengers may have taken to
Speaker 1: the lifeboat in a panic, only to later sink under
Speaker 1: difficult conditions. Others have suggested that the vapors may even
Speaker 1: have caught fire at some point, but since only the
Speaker 1: gas would have been burned off, no evidence remained of
Speaker 1: anything untoward having taken place. However, it is unlikely we
Speaker 1: will ever have a definitive explanation for what occurred, and
Speaker 1: so the marriage Celeste is destined to remain forever adrift
Speaker 1: on those inscrutable and unforgiving waves of maritime history. There
Speaker 1: is something uniquely evocative and even romantic about the notion
Speaker 1: of being lost at sea. I think this is due
Speaker 1: in part to the inevitable sense of isolation that such
Speaker 1: an event conjures up, but also the strange confluence of
Speaker 1: something as singular and dynamic as an animal being consumed
Speaker 1: and ultimately dissolved into something so impassive and amorphous as
Speaker 1: the sea, at least from the perspective of an animal
Speaker 1: that lives above the water. That is, in writing the
Speaker 1: last episode, I was reminded of a story I heard
Speaker 1: many years ago about the artist bass Jarn Arda, who
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy five attempted a solo crossing of the
Speaker 1: Atlantic Ocean from the US to the United Kingdom. Like
Speaker 1: many artists, Arda was determined for his work to get
Speaker 1: as close to eliminating artifice as possible, to leave only
Speaker 1: the unadulterated truths of existence. Arda's earlier work played on
Speaker 1: the conflict between free will and determinism, the notion that
Speaker 1: all acts are the result of pre existing causes. One
Speaker 1: series of films in particular, based around the notion of falling,
Speaker 1: explored this idea explicitly recorded in the early seventies. The
Speaker 1: films depict Arda falling in different ways. Fall one Los
Speaker 1: Angeles has the artist sat in a chair on the
Speaker 1: roof of his house before tumbling uncontrollably to the ground.
Speaker 1: Fall two Amsterdam shows Arda cycling along a canal in
Speaker 1: the Dutch city before turning the bike toward the water
Speaker 1: and cycling straight into it. As one critic, Alexander Damadzi
Speaker 1: noted in his book Bassian arda Death is Elsewhere, these
Speaker 1: were moments presented as ordinary occurrences that then become highly unusual,
Speaker 1: but also that they were intended to represent events that
Speaker 1: could not have unfolded differently. Nothing he could have done,
Speaker 1: notice or indecision on his part would have altered the
Speaker 1: course of events. As also noted by the critic, Arda's
Speaker 1: friends often worried about the possible consequences of his determination
Speaker 1: to use art as a way to explore his philosophical ideas.
Speaker 1: For Arda, it seemed merely depicting them wasn't enough. What
Speaker 1: he ultimately wanted was to actualize them. It was an
Speaker 1: approach that may well have cost him his life. Bastian
Speaker 1: Johann Christian Arda was born on April nineteenth, nineteen forty two,
Speaker 1: to mother Johanna Arda Appel's and his father also called Bastian,
Speaker 1: in Windscotton in the Netherlands. Arda was born during the
Speaker 1: height of the Second World War, with the Netherlands under
Speaker 1: German occupation. Both his parents were morally opposed to Adolf
Speaker 1: Hitler's government and were active members of the Dutch Resistance.
Speaker 1: Using Arda's father's position as a Calvinist minister, Arda's parents
Speaker 1: are thought to have helped somewhere between two to three
Speaker 1: hundred Jewish compatriots escaped the Holocaust, often using their home
Speaker 1: to help hide them. In nineteen forty four, while away
Speaker 1: in central Netherlands, Bastian Arda was arrested by the German
Speaker 1: army on one late November night. He was taken into
Speaker 1: the woods along with six other prisoners to face a
Speaker 1: firing squad. Arda demanded that he be killed last, so
Speaker 1: he might comfort his fellow prisoners before their death. After
Speaker 1: watching each of them being shot in the head right
Speaker 1: in front of him. He is said to have then
Speaker 1: met his own fate with the strength of conviction that
Speaker 1: haunted his eldest son for the rest of his life.
Speaker 1: It is not hard to see where perhaps Arda's fascination
Speaker 1: with fate, determinism, and free will might have sprung up
Speaker 1: from considering these brutal early experiences. After the war, Bassian's
Speaker 1: mother moved him and his baby brother Eric to drybalk
Speaker 1: where they grew up. Arda struggled with the discipline of
Speaker 1: school and rebelled against his mother's wishes for him to
Speaker 1: follow in his father's footsteps and become a minister. Instead,
Speaker 1: he renounced his faith and turned his attentions to art.
Speaker 1: At eighteen, he traveled to America and spent a gear
Speaker 1: studying in Washington, d c. Before eventually finding his way
Speaker 1: to Los Angeles, where in nineteen sixty five he met
Speaker 1: his wife, Mary Sue, a frequent collaborator in his work.
Speaker 1: Though Arda had exhibited his work throughout the sixties, it
Speaker 1: wasn't until his first series of Fall films, shown in
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one that he began to make his mark
Speaker 1: in the emerging Los Angeles art scene at the time.
Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy three, Arda began work on a piece
Speaker 1: which was intended to be a triptych called in Search
Speaker 1: of the Miraculus. The initial part, consisting of fourteen to
Speaker 1: eighteen photographs, was titled In Search of the Miraculus One
Speaker 1: Night in Los Angeles and was first exhibited in November
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four. Together, the black and white stills depict
Speaker 1: the nocturnal meander through the city in each which can
Speaker 1: be found either upfront and obvious, or hidden somewhere in
Speaker 1: the shadows, a darkly clad ardor shining a flashlight. The
Speaker 1: final photo reveals a haunting image of Arda standing in
Speaker 1: fuzzy isolation on a beach, seemingly cut off from the
Speaker 1: bright lights and life of the city just visible in
Speaker 1: the distance behind him. Shortly after making the photos, Arda
Speaker 1: seemed to lose interest in his work and took up
Speaker 1: a teaching post in the University of California. Some concerned
Speaker 1: by his diminishing output, speculated that Arda had reached an
Speaker 1: impass in his work and that he thought it had
Speaker 1: become too routine and formulaic. It was around this time
Speaker 1: that Arda began planning for the second part of In
Speaker 1: Search of the Miraculous. This part would take the form
Speaker 1: of an ambitious journey in which he would sail on
Speaker 1: his own from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Cornwall in England.
Speaker 1: Though some have suggested otherwise, Arda was in fact a
Speaker 1: very accomplished sailor, having learned to sail from a very
Speaker 1: early age growing up in the Netherlands. At nineteen, after
Speaker 1: hitchhiking to Morocco, Arda befriended a man named Neil Birkhead,
Speaker 1: who was looking for a crewmate to help him sail
Speaker 1: to California. Arda jumped at the opportunity, and together they
Speaker 1: successfully completed the eleven thousand mile journey, arriving months later
Speaker 1: after a series of life threatening disasters, all of which
Speaker 1: they had managed to overcome. Are you always taking care
Speaker 1: of your family? Do you often take care of others
Speaker 1: and not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself.
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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four, Bassian Arda accepted an offer to put
Speaker 1: on an exhibition at the Groninger Museum in Groningen in
Speaker 1: the Netherlands. The show, which was seen by Arda as
Speaker 1: the perfect opportunity to conclude his in Search of the
Speaker 1: Miraculous project, was scheduled for the autumn of the following year.
Speaker 1: By now, the artist was deep in preparation for his trip,
Speaker 1: studying flows of currents, possible weather patterns and reacquainting himself
Speaker 1: with all the necessary nautical charts. Although his efforts to
Speaker 1: find sponsorship failed and the costs quickly escalated, Arda plowed
Speaker 1: on regardless, asking the few friends that knew about his
Speaker 1: journey to keep it a secret until he had successfully
Speaker 1: completed the trip. In June, he purchased a twelve and
Speaker 1: a half foot long Guppy thirteen sailing boat. Despite its
Speaker 1: small size, it was well designed for overnight sailing and
Speaker 1: open water, made from molded fiberglass, which was able to
Speaker 1: right itself in case of capsize. Arda named the boat
Speaker 1: ocean Wave, after the old sea shanty a life on
Speaker 1: the Ocean Wave. Over the next few weeks, Arda had
Speaker 1: the boat modified, strengthening the rigging and washboards, as well
Speaker 1: as securing the life line that would keep him attached
Speaker 1: to it if he should fall out at any point.
Speaker 1: Next he stockpiled all the necessary food and water that
Speaker 1: he would need to complete his journey, and by the
Speaker 1: end of the month his preparations were complete. Having told
Speaker 1: family and friends that he hoped to arrive in the
Speaker 1: Ukue at some point in September, he and his wife
Speaker 1: Mary Sue, along with Ocean Wave, made their way to
Speaker 1: Chatham in Massachusetts. After writing a couple of letters and
Speaker 1: postcards to a couple of European galleries announcing his departure
Speaker 1: and imminent arrival, At two p m. On July ninth,
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, Arda waved good bye to his wife.
Speaker 1: Moments later, he and Ocean Wave were towed out of
Speaker 1: the harbor and disappeared into the horizon. After seeing her
Speaker 1: husband off in Cape cod, mary Sue traveled to the Netherlands,
Speaker 1: hoping to be there for his arrival. By early September, however,
Speaker 1: Arda had yet to appear, and mary Sue was forced
Speaker 1: to return home due to a work commitment. Arda's failure
Speaker 1: to appear at this point was not a huge concern,
Speaker 1: since it wasn't unusual for such journeys to take up
Speaker 1: to one hundred and fifty days to complete. Such facts
Speaker 1: were little comfort for his friends and family, however, eagerly
Speaker 1: awaiting any sign that he was okay. The fact that
Speaker 1: he had deliberately resisted taking a communications device and was
Speaker 1: using only a sextant and maps to navigate with only
Speaker 1: served to exacerbate their anxiety, and as the weeks went by,
Speaker 1: still with no trace, of Arda anywhere. It was beginning
Speaker 1: to dawn on those closest to him that something terrible
Speaker 1: had gone wrong with the artists planned show in Groningen,
Speaker 1: having long ago been postponed. By December, he had still
Speaker 1: yet to appear. In response, Mary Sue alerted all appropriate
Speaker 1: authorities to let them know that her husband was missing
Speaker 1: at sea. Despite the British Coast Guard carrying out two
Speaker 1: sweeping searches, they found nothing of Arda or his boat.
Speaker 1: In April the following year, a Spanish fishing vessel traveling
Speaker 1: just south of Ireland and to the west of the
Speaker 1: southern coast of England came across an eerie and incongruous site.
Speaker 1: It was a small sailing ship partially submerged, with its
Speaker 1: hull standing up vertically in the water after hauling a
Speaker 1: boat onto the trawler. A quick search of it revealed
Speaker 1: some spoiled tins of food among other paraphernalia, as well
Speaker 1: as a damaged Dutch passport belonging to Baste Johann Christian Arda.
Speaker 1: There was no sign of the man himself anywhere. It
Speaker 1: wasn't long after Arda's disappearance and likely death that the
Speaker 1: story of his ill fated trip hit the news, with
Speaker 1: his boat having been taken back to Spain, where it
Speaker 1: was later stolen. Spanish naval authorities speculated that an explosion
Speaker 1: on board might have forced Arda to evacuate it. His
Speaker 1: brother Eric, however, suspected he might just have been knocked
Speaker 1: overboard in a heavy storm, with his lifeline having then
Speaker 1: been ripped away from the boat. Some believed that the artist,
Speaker 1: who is thought to have been struggling with a number
Speaker 1: of personal issues at the time, might have either faked
Speaker 1: his own death or indeed committed suicide. However, both his
Speaker 1: wife and his other friends were adamant this was not
Speaker 1: his intention or frame of mind before he set off.
Speaker 1: In the end, we are left with the uncomfortable question
Speaker 1: was Bassian Arda's final peace in search of the Miraculous,
Speaker 1: as some suggest, unfinished, or had it in fact been completed.
Speaker 1: Having accepted that Arda was dead. Later in nineteen seventy six,
Speaker 1: his mother, Yohanna, held a memorial service in his honor
Speaker 1: while her son was away at sea in the midst
Speaker 1: of his journey. Johanna has said that she received a
Speaker 1: premonition of his death coming to her as if telepathically
Speaker 1: in the form of a poem. On the night of
Speaker 1: October twelfth, nineteen seventy five, from the deep waters of sleep,
Speaker 1: I wake up to consciousness. In the distance. I hear
Speaker 1: a train rumbling in the early morning. It is going
Speaker 1: east and passes the border. Then it will stop. I
Speaker 1: feel my heart beating too. It will go on beating
Speaker 1: for some time, then it will stop. I wonder if
Speaker 1: the little heart that has beaten with mine has stopped
Speaker 1: when he passed the border of birth. I laid him
Speaker 1: at my breast, rocked him in my arms. He was
Speaker 1: very small. Then, a white body of a man rocked
Speaker 1: in the arms of the waves is very small too.
Speaker 1: What are we in the infinity of ocean and sky,
Speaker 1: a small baby at the breast of eternity? Have you
Speaker 1: heard of happiness springing from a deep well of sorrow,
Speaker 1: of love springing from hayne and despondency, agony and death?
Speaker 1: Such is mine. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and
Speaker 1: would like to help support us, you can now go
Speaker 1: to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support. All donations,
Speaker 1: no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. All
Speaker 1: elements have Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain Smith.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel
Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas
Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you
Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.
Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com,
Speaker 1: or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com.
Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Now, it's time to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: To make time for you. Teledoc gives you access to
Speaker 1: a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling
Speaker 1: your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or
Speaker 1: video anytime between seven am to nine pm local time,
Speaker 1: seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available through most
Speaker 1: insurance or employers. Download the app or visit teledoc dot com.
Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started. That's t
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