First Friday Focus

Lori Hill's First Friday Hit List

by Lori Hill

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Published: Sep 30, 2008

National Constitution Center

Jonathan Castner "Hindsight Is Always 20/20," installation detail, by R. Luke DuBois (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

When it comes down to it, politics is about words. Eloquent or gruff, convoluted or direct, a leader's speeches often come to define them. Artist R. Luke DuBois studied the State of the Union addresses of all but two presidents, from Washington to W., and sorted the words by frequency. He then created a Snellen eye chart for each president, with the words presented in order — the most frequent at the top in large type and the least frequent at the bottom in small type. The National Constitution Center show is called "Hindsight Is Always 20/20," and it allows no small amount of reflection. The 6-foot-tall light boxes on the NCC's front lawn provide a snapshot of the buzzwords from each era. Check out Hoover's words in order of frequency: unemployment, recovery, distress, crisis. Lyndon B. Johnson: tonight, Vietnam, try, abundance, poor, police. George H.W. Bush: terror, Iraq, Iraqi, terrorist, al-Qaida (the more things change ... ). While some presidents' favorite words are predictable, there are some surprises. LBJ used the word "beauty" frequently as in "the beauty of America," and Washington used both "object" and "objects" often. "Hindsight" is a supplement to the NCC's "Headed to the White House" exhibition, giving a bit of arm's-length perspective to the tenor of political campaigns. Through Nov. 4, 525 Arch St., 215-409-6700, constitutioncenter.org.

Proximity Gallery

Chris M. Clark strikes a delicate balance between creating works with weighty themes like the Iraq war, environmentalism and urban sprawl and the physical joy of assembling a work — the nitty-gritty of ink, glue and plywood. "It is interesting because I have this sometimes imposing imagery with very delicate nuanced details, and then I get out the circular saw," he says. "Process has always been important to my work. I feel like I actually 'construct' or build a collage. It is sort of like building a car or a building or a city — it is actually physical labor." The pieces of Clark's puzzles are as individually appealing as the whole: A pocket of one work glows like stained glass; in another, the text peeks through layers of color; in yet another, fabric-like patterns have a personality all their own. Look closely and more detail, more layers slowly appear. Clark doesn't stop until he's deconstructed, then reconstructed, to his satisfaction. "I may screen-print 20 different images on top of one another. Then I tear or cut it apart and glue it back together and then I'll print back on top of it. I have even started sewing some of my pieces together," he says. What's appealing about the work is Clark makes no effort to conceal any of the tricks or the labor; we see the rough edges, the stitching — the thought process is laid bare. The artist's passion for the process on the way to the product goes back a few generations. "My love of technical drawing and construction and building things come from my father and grandfather," says Clark. "My father is a construction worker and my grandfather is a sign painter. They taught me how to use my hands and make things." Luckily, the product is something viewers can enjoy without having to do any of the work. Opening reception Fri., Oct. 3, 6-9 p.m., exhibit through Oct. 31, 2434 E. Dauphin St., 267-825-2949.

And Then There's ...

If you haven't had a chance to see "Industrial Strength Sleep," the Ed Ruscha show at Fabric Workshop and Museum (the first exhibition in the new space), go this Friday when you can see the man himself. Ruscha will give a lecture at 6 p.m. and FWM will host a reception, free and open to all. Fri., Oct. 3, 6-8 p.m., 1214 Arch St., 215-561-8888. ... Jacob Lunderby and Tim Tate take inspiration frommoving images; and their manipulated film-still landscapes, and intricate world-within-a-world objects called "video reliquaries," respectively, make for a solid show at Pentimenti Gallery. Through Oct. 18, 145 N. Second St., 215-625-9990. ... Area 919, part of the new Northern Liberties Design Center, is showing 25 years' worth of work from art collective TODT (which showed at Fleisher/Ollman last year), as well as "Element," an exhibit of architectural objects and garden ornaments from around the world. "TODT: As If" runs through Nov. 8; "Element" runs through Dec. 31; 919 N. Fifth St., 215-627-3311.

(l_hill@citypaper.net)

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