TERROR, GENTLEMEN, ENEMY, BANK, EMPIRE, SLAVERY, WAGES, UNEMPLOYMENT, NUCLEAR, DEFICITS.

From every side, the words leap through space to assault the eyes. Bold words with strong import, they appear most often in the State of the Union addresses of 41 U.S. presidents.

In a fascinating show at the Weisman Art Museum, New York artist R. Luke DuBois has arranged the words in the form of Snellen charts, those black-on-white cards that optometrists use to test eyesight. The top line of DuBois' charts features the word uttered most frequently and the bottom line the word said least often. (He omitted articles and conjunctions.)

Called "Hindsight Is Always 20/20," the show was staged in part to coincide with the Republican National Convention. A variant of the exhibition was shown at the Denver Performing Arts Complex during the Democratic National Convention in August. There are no charts for the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, who died after a mere month in office, or James Garfield, the 20th, who served barely six months. Apparently neither of them gave a State of the Union address.

DuBois' clever analysis of the presidential verbiage is surprisingly revealing, oddly mesmerizing and curiously lyrical. Like refrigerator poetry, those happy conjunctions of words on little magnetic tabs, the presidential utterances read poignantly across the centuries. Since the speech-charts encircle the gallery, George Washington's GENTLEMEN and George W. Bush's TERROR flank the entrance, reflecting the very different tenor of their eras.

Certain words recall the preoccupations of their time, especially the 19th century's westward expansion (TEXAS, OREGON), muscular foreign policy (EMPIRE), injustices (SLAVERY) and financial uncertainties (WAGES). Some most-frequent words are predictable (Lincoln's EMANCIPATION, Eisenhower's NUCLEAR), but others are unexpectedly fresh. Who would pick TRULY, ENVIRONMENT, VISION as Nixon's most repeated utterances? Or DEFICITS, LET'S, BLESS as Reagan's. And some words, unfortunately, remain too relevant over the centuries (Lincoln's INSURGENT[S] and INSURRECTION).

Happily, the lists allow for creative interpretation. too. DuBois merely tallied and printed the words in order of frequency. Readers are free to give their own spin to such amusing coincidences as BEAUTY POLICE in the words of Lyndon Johnson, or ARMOR ALASKA in McKinley's addresses. Anyone wishing to delve deeper can read the complete speeches at information stations in the gallery. At a computer station, visitors may also predict the words that will be most used in the 2009 State of the Union address. On one recent afternoon, the top predicted word was HOPE. Imagine that.

Mary Abbe • 612-673-4431

As a consortium of fabric and craft groups, the Textile Center is usually abuzz with knitters, weavers, basket makers and other artisans whose products are typically domestic adornments rather than political statements. For this election and convention year, however, the center invited artists from around the country to submit items reflecting their notions of freedom. About two dozen wall hangings, sculpture, banners and other displays are included, ranging from Julie Branch's bas-relief doll exultantly raising its arms, to an unusual American flag by Adrienne Sloane, who composed the red-and-white stripes from silhouettes of male and female figures knit from linen thread.

Celebrations of American landscape and traditional patriotism (clothing with stars and stripes; an eagle elaborately beaded into an evening bag) dominate the show, but there are efforts to address tougher issues, too: "Habeas Corpus: The Great Writ" by Kathy Weaver is a flag-like hanging in which an explanation of habeas corpus is written around a doll-like figure that's been strung up as if tortured. In their "Alas, Geneva" wall hangings, Tim and Kathy Harding have incorporated silhouettes of bruised-looking figures that suggest the tortures of Abu Ghraib. Toni Easterson's "Immigrant Jacket" is a fringed coat-of-many-colors made from fabric scraps doubtless intended to represent the nation's many races and nationalities.

While only a few of the individual pieces transcend convention or cliché, the earnest sincerity of "Freedom" is heartening, and the time and effort involved impressive.