Terry Adkins (1953-2014)
Roost (from Deeper Still) (2001)
One gallery will feature all three of Adkins's John Brown-related videos and demonstrate three of the artist's approaches. In Apis Mellifera, the mouths of Adkins and another man are shown in close-up view as they repetitively chant the words "soldier, shepherd, prophet, martyr" while visual references to Brown's life and mission, including fleece, ringing bells, bees, and honey, fade into and out of the three panels on the screen. Behold Harper's Ferry is a silent video featuring stereoscopic images of Brown's Fort, his grave marker, and the railroad bridge and houses surrounding Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the site of his infamous 1859 raid. In Roost, Adkins appears as the ghost of Brown on the banks of Lake Alice in Gainesville, Florida, where he imagined that Brown's group, if successful, could have declared their victory.