Hayes, Sharon

IN THE GALLERY

My Fellow Americans documents a performance by Hayes in which she read all thirty-six of Ronald Reagan’s official “Address to the Nation” speeches, beginning with the “Address to the Nation on the Economy” delivered on February 5, 1981, and ending with his “Farewell Address to the Nation” from January 11, 1989. A specific category of presidential address, these speeches are always given from the Oval Office and are presumably spoken directly to the American people.

Hayes, however, strips them of the branded performance—the choreographed gestures and refined dramatic intonation—which presidents, and especially Reagan, employ on such occasions. As she reads the transcripts, which range in topic from the laissez-faire economic policies dubbed Reaganomics to the Iran-Contra affair, her affectless voice transforms the sentences into a series of dry, flat phrases. A corrective to the individual voice is provided by a chorus of off-screen assistants who audibly correct the artist’s at times flawed rendition.

My Fellow Americans 1981-1988 2004/06

Documentation of performance

9 hours, 30 minutes

Courtesy the artist