When A River Changes Course 1/9

I went back to see John Bjerklie’s show Jan. 9 : another First Friday reception. at Parker's Box in Williamsburg. Things changed quite a bit since the first viewing. A lot of the crate wood that had been in the gallery was out in the front window. The remaining wood in the main room was reorganized into tree like structures with wires spewing out the top like twigs. Additional video elements and mirrors became more prominent. A couple of the mirrors are hung on the wall on the diagonal , they’re smudged, with a circle cleaned off in the center. A new video of the sunrise to sunset on the Savanah river was placed in front of a mirror with the same smudging, an allusion to the shows title. In the center of the action there are 2 TV monitors on folding chairs facing each other. The monitors have cameras hooked to them so each is taking the others picture, on there screens are list’s of dollar amounts , sometimes John would cross out and change the prices. It seemed to be pointing out the artists relationship with the marketplace.
I was there early and got to speak with John about his work and he brought out some bronze pieces he had recently cast in N.C. One was of an easel with a hole chopped through the canvas another was of his Hothead bust made of gum balls. People started showing up ,it got busy, I left feeling amazed by getting so many ideas out of such debris , an Arte Povera experience.