SITE SANTA FE presents a solo exhibition of New York-based artist R. Luke DuBois. This exhibition features a range of new and recent works that explore democracy, elections, politics, and demographics. Central to the exhibition is Hindsight is Always 20/20 (2008), a work that synthesizes the State of the Union addresses by 41 US presidents, organizing their most frequently used words into the familiar descending format of the Snellen eye chart. Showing the top 66 words of each American presidents’ State of the Union addresses from George Washington through George W. Bush, these word charts reflect the themes, ideals, language, and topics of their age, allowing viewers to experience American history through political rhetoric. Combining the format of the eye chart with the rhetoric of the American President, Hindsight is Always 20/20 echoes and explores the metaphorical vision the electorate must hope for in each successive leader.

While Hindsight offers a particular kind of linguistic portrait of 41 presidents, this exhibition will also feature two more recent works profiling our current and most recent president. These works include: fascist.republican (2016), a Twitter-based portrait of Donald Trump, and Obama (2017), a portrait of our 44th president through fragments of his public addresses over eight years in office.

Exploring the mechanics and structures of the electoral process are Dubois’s Learning Machines, repurposed mid-twentieth century voting machines that DuBois has hacked to create an interactive “voting” experience that highlights the lack of choice we can feel when presented with reductive choices in the voting booth. Stepping up to one of DuBois’s Learning Machines (originally made by the Automatic Voting Machine Corporation in the 1940s and 50s), participants use them to vote on a series of choices posed as dichotomies that range from the poignant to the absurd. Upon voting, the participant receives a unique video response as real-time results from voting are displayed in the gallery.

R. Luke DuBois: A More Perfect Union is generously supported by Elizabeth Sackler and by the patrons of SITE Forum. Additional support for the presentation of Hindsight is Always 20/20 provided by the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation.