This tape grew out of my fascination with Ronald Reagan and his uncanny ability to demonstrate what I called the 'Signifiers of Americanism'. Through gesture and intonation, he seemed to suggest many of the virtues that Americans hold dear. Although not directly about Reagan, The Speech suggests some of these issues, while remaining purposely ambiguous. The tape is really a speech about speeches.
— Doug Hall
This title is also available on Presidents and Elections.
Much of Doug Hall’s work in video centers upon the idea of media presentation as anthropological rite—as social spectacle heavily encoded with cultural values and contradictions. In addition to his well-known solo projects, during the 1970s Hall was a member of the media art/performance collective T. R. Uthco (with Diane Andrews Hall and Jody Procter) and a collaborator with Ant Farm. From the late 1980s to the present, Hall has produced a significant body of work in photography, in addition to his work in video and media installation. Over the years, he has written extensively on a range of issues from art, media, and politics as well as on more personal matters. Among the most notable literary efforts is Illuminating Video: An Essential Guide to Video Art (1990, Aperture Books) which he co-edited with Sally Jo Fifer. More recently, he completed a memoir, This Is Doug Hall (2004, ORO Editions), in which he traces the influences that led him to become an artist or as he puts it, “a maker of stuff.” Over the years he has received numerous grants and awards, including from The National Endowment for the Arts, The California Arts Council, The Fulbright Foundation, and The Guggenheim Foundation. In 1995 he received The Rome Prize awarded by the American Academy in Rome. His work in video, installation, and photography is included in the collections of numerous museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Contemporary Art Museum, Chicago; The Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, California; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Vienna; Tate Modern, London; The San Jose Museum of Art, California; and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. He lives in San Francisco.