James Buchanan / 1857 – 1861, from the portfolio Hindsight is Always 20/20

R. Luke DuBois, James Buchanan / 1857-1861, from the portfolio Hindsight is Always 20/20, 2008, letterpress on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.9.14, © 2008, R. Luke DuBois
Copied R. Luke DuBois, James Buchanan / 1857-1861, from the portfolio Hindsight is Always 20/20, 2008, letterpress on paper, sheet and image: 21 1⁄4 x 28 1⁄4 in. (54.0 x 71.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.9.14, © 2008, R. Luke DuBois

Artwork Details

Title
James Buchanan / 1857 – 1861, from the portfolio Hindsight is Always 20/20
Artist
Printer
Coeur Noir
Publisher
bitforms gallery
Date
2008
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 21 1⁄4 x 28 1⁄4 in. (54.0 x 71.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2008, R. Luke DuBois
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
letterpress on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — written matter
  • Occupation — political — president
  • History — United States
Object Number
2011.9.14
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.9.14

Artwork Description

In Hindsight is Always 20/20, Luke DuBois took the State of the Union addresses from each presidency and sorts them according to word frequency. The artist then printed the most frequently appearing works as an eye chart for each president, with the more frequently used words in larger type at the top of the chart and the less frequently used words toward the bottom. The traditional eye chart includes sixty-six letters; Luke DuBois’s charts substitute sixty-six words. The lists contain words that are not only important for the issues addressed by each president but also give an impression of how language was used at the time. Each of the forty-one presidencies to have State of the Union addresses (William Henry Harrison and James Garfield died before they could submit a single message to Congress) has its own eye chart. The chart for James Buchanan gives a concise overview of the issues facing the country just prior to the Civil War.

Multiplicity, 2011