The Wake

Everyone’s favorite on-campus enclave of modern art, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, is currently hosting an exhibit that has everyone—Optometrists and non-Optometrists alike—talking. The show, from the mind of artist R. Luke DuBois, is called Hindsight is Always 20/20, and will be running at the Weisman until early January 2009.

Upon entering the gallery space, one is immediately confronted by a sea of white paper canvases awash in black lettering. Each piece tells a story, however succinct, about one of the men who have held the title “Leader of the People of the Free World” (or, if you prefer: President of the United States of America)—in their own words.

Taken individually, the pieces themselves are not all that impressive at a first glance. One more discourteous than myself might even go as far as to say that a person could make prints similar to these with little or no difficulty. But there is so much more to DuBois’s artistry here than simple black lettering on white paper. What actually gets printed on each page is a meticulous synthesis of all of the State of the Union Addresses of a past Commander-in-Chief (taken, of course, with permission from the University of California – Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project), scanned into a computer program that employs word count to track the most commonlyused expressions, and then organized into Snellen-esque “vision charts,” of the type that anyone has doubtless seen on a trip to their local Optometrist’s or Ophthalmologist’s office, with 66 words on each page. Forty-one pieces in total (some presidents, such as William Henry Harrison and James Garfield, did not live long enough
to make even one State of the Union Address), Dubois’s “vision charts” seek to teach us a great deal, as the exhibit’s introductory placard will tell you, about “presidential rhetoric, political reality, and the balance of powers in American democracy.”

What the exhibit really gives us, however, is a surprising study into your absent-minded college English Professor’s favorite concept: intertexuality. For someone whose vision wouldn’t be considered 20/20—in hindsight, plain sight, or otherwise—the intertextual details of Hindsight are pretty hard to miss. Bush’s most-used word (you may have guessed it already) is “terror;” Lincoln’s is “emancipation.” Ironically, Nixon’s State of the Union word of choice is “truly” and Eisenhower’s top word, in a similar vein, is “nuclear.” Butthese are merely shallow observations.

After a more careful study, one can see that “war,” “conflict” and “progress” are central themes in many of the “eye charts”—as they are in real life. Furthermore, the challenges of each generation, it seems, are also given their due mention: Clinton’s most used lexes are “21st” (as in Century), “coverage,” “affordable” (as in healthcare), and “Internet;” Reagan’s list begins with “deficits,” and so on—the pattern continues— with the other Chief Executives’. Amazingly
enough, each President has their own “top word,” as well as a host of other unique rhetoric
following it, with only some repeats (full disclosure: parts of speech, such as “it,” “and” or “the,” as well as the words “United” and “States” have been removed from the art generation process, guaranteeing that no president’s “chart” could ever begin with something as disappointing as an “an” or a “that”).

There is also a dialogue-of-sorts between our Cold War Presidents, who, you will find, consistently used words like “Communist,” “Communists,” “Soviet” and “alliance” in their speeches. Similarly, there is a progression of words and ideas about slavery, beginning with our earliest presidents, and ending,
as I have mentioned before, with the word “emancipation” by none other than Abraham Lincoln. As each presidency, in part, informs the next one, so too are the preceding “eye charts” partial-requisites for understanding subsequent ones.

Having spent too much time already, trying to obtain my own meaning from these pseudo-analytical wall hangings, I decide to give the Weisman’s Art Sounds (Artist Commentary) a try. Although the exhibit’s introductory portion clearly states that there are recorded remarks by DuBois available for Hindsight, the audio file hadn’t been loaded on the rental iPods by the time I wrote this. Such a recording does exist, I discovered—after speaking with the exhibit’s curator, Diane Mullin—and
should be on Art Sounds by the time you read this.

Of course, you can wait to hear Mr. DuBois in person at “Hearsighted,” a special event being put on by the Weisman ($10 general admission/$5 for Weisman Art Museum members or University of Minnesota students), on October 11.

If you go…
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
333 East River Rd
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: (612) 625-9494
Operating Hours:
–Mondays and Holidays – Closed
–Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday – 10 to 5
–Saturday and Sunday – 11 to 5
Cost: Absolutely Free!

No visit to the Weisman this season would be complete, however, without a visit to their war propaganda exhibit, appropriately titled: What do YOU say, AMERICA? Located immediately to the right of Hindsight’s gallery space.

While you’re at the University, why not make a day of it, and explore The American President, now showing at the Hubert H. Humphrey Museum and Forum on the West Bank (which is also absolutely free!)