Doug Ashford Messages to the Public: Whose Gov't?

In his message titled Whose Gov’t?, Doug Ashford (b. 1958, Rabat, Morocco) uses objects to present a parable about the relationship between people and the state. Ashford’s message opens with the question “Whose Government?” appearing in large white letters, followed by the word “Government” shrinking to “Gov’t.” The text is then followed by three objects: a book, a flashlight, and a gun, which Ashford specifically selected to illustrate his message.

The book, which is blue in color, floats on a black background and has the word “Gov’t” on its cover. The artist chose this object to suggest the government’s role in directing people. The next image used in Ashford’s parable is a green flashlight which pours yellow light from its face and turns itself to illuminate the word “Gov’t,” suggesting government’s role in enlightening people. The flashlight is followed by a gun exploding into a variety of colors which engulf the entire lightboard. The explosion shrinks and again flashes a pulsating “Whose Government” for the final frame.

“The objects are asking questions about the relationship between government and the people,” Ashford explains. “It’s a message that questions a contradiction.” The question is left unanswered in his message because Ashford feels that it has yet to be answered in everyday life.

Messages to the Public formed a key part of the Public Art Fund’s long-term commitment to media-based artworks. Running from 1982 to 1990, the show featured a series of artists’ projects created specifically for the Spectacolor board at Times Square.

As Russell Miller from Ohio newspaper The Toledo Blade explained in his article on February 19, 1984, “every month, a different artist presents a 30-second animation on the Spectacolor light board—an 800-square-foot array of 8,000 red, white, blue, and green 60-watt bulbs that dominates the Times Square vista. The spot is repeated more than 50 times a day for two weeks, wedged into a 20-minute loop of computer-animated commercials.

“Jane Dickson, a painter, was working for Spectacolor, Inc. as an ad designer and computer programmer when, three and a half years ago, she first thought to use the light board to display noncommercial art.

“‘I picked that title,’ she said of Messages to the Public, ‘because I thought the propaganda potential from this project was terrific.’ The board, she noted, was regularly used for ‘commercial propaganda.’

“Dickson sought help from the Public Art Fund, an organization based here and dedicated to taking art out of the galleries and placing it in the city’s streets and parks.”

Project Director of the Public Art Fund Jessica Cusick explained, “We’re trying to do art that’s timely, has a message, is visually potent and is trying to deal with the fine line dividing fine art and commercial art.”