Jon Bernson: Third Eye Moonwalk

In conjunction with Beside Me, Catharine Clark Gallery presents Third Eye Moonwalk at Catharine Clark Gallery, Jon Bernson’s first solo presentation in the gallery’s viewing room. Third Eye Moonwalk at Catharine Clark Gallery (and the related exhibit Third Eye Moonwalk at Minnesota Street Project) is an audio-drama unfolding as an installation based on the opening scene from Bernson’s interdisciplinary story of the same name. A character named You stands on a beach and is greeted by three anonymous narrators known as the Guides. The installation invites the viewer to assume the role of You, who stands on a synthetic beach and receives meditative prompts from the Guides via an audio speaker. These prompts are suggestive, leaving space for reflection, fantasy and memory.

The beach is represented sonically. Tapes play sounds from the waterside on independent loops, while an accompanying (projected) video and three media screens portray the stark and hypnotic waveforms of the sounds themselves. The interplay between the sounds and the shapes of sounds reveals patterns and energetic properties that are sensed, but rarely seen, suggesting a revelatory language that can emerge from their confluence. Bernson will also exhibit a related, site-specific installation in partnership with Minnesota Street Project, throughout the 1275 Minnesota Street building, October 6 – 27, 2018. On October 19, 2018,Third Eye Moonwalk at Minnesota Street Project presents as a full cast performance of Bernson’s audiodrama.