This is the Truth

1982, 3:30 min, color, sound

Political hyperbole and media rhetoric are the focus of This is the Truth, in which Hall confronts the calculated platitudes and contrived gestures that signify "truth" in a media-saturated society. In a characterization that is part dictator and part preacher, Hall, flanked by emblematic red banners, recites a litany of clichés: "Mind your superiors... Obey the laws... Leave politics to the politicians..." The monotonous repetition of these aphorisms imbues them with a sinister, Orwellian ambiguity. Through theatricality and spectacle, this work continues Hall's investigation of the manipulation of images and language as signs of power.

Director of Photography: Jules Backus. Editor: Doug Hall.