In this piece, Bigelow distills a series of messages that overtly (or covertly) came from the Bush administration after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The messages are delivered as short videos, one word at a time, interspersed and juxtaposed with images that illustrate their disturbing subtexts. Its deceptively simple interface uses blended conceptual metaphors— combining  radio with television,  timelines, and times of day— to lead us to reflect on the diverse ways in which propaganda reaches us. After all, cultural hegemony is most effectively maintained through commonsensical, seemingly innocent messages. When this piece was published in 2008, the rhetoric of U.S. presidential campaigns in an election year was in full swing. Keep that frame of reference in mind as you read this poem and then go watch some campaign coverage.

Featured in ELO 2012 Media Art Show