Do As Told or Suffer (Country Cityscapes series)
- Artist: Edward Ruscha
- Date: 2001
- Medium: Photogravure with silkscreened text
- Dimensions: unconfirmed: 457 x 356 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Do As Told or Suffer” by Edward Ruscha, a 2001 photogravure that uses silkscreened text to overlay a North American landscape. Ruscha’s Country Cityscapes series takes a familiar tourist‑style photograph and punches it with blocks of blanked‑out words that look like advertising slogans. The titles come from old‑west films – think “Be Careful…You Hear Me?” or “Its Payback Time” – and are deliberately turned into threats aimed at the viewer. The text obscures parts of the image, breaking up the calm scenery and forcing you to pause and read. It’s a playful commentary on how we consume images and the promises or warnings that advertising can carry. Ruscha’s work invites you to notice what’s missing as much as what’s present, making the quiet landscape feel both familiar and unsettling at once.
See it in person
Do As Told or Suffer (Country Cityscapes series) is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
