Be Careful... You Hear Me? (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 "Be Careful... You Hear Me? (Country Cityscapes series)" by Edward Ruscha. Created in 2001, the piece is a photogravure that incorporates silkscreened text directly onto the image. Ruscha takes a straightforward photograph of a North American landscape and then overlays large blocks of black text. The titles come from old‑west movie catchphrases—phrases like “Be careful… you hear me?” and “Its payback time” – and the text is deliberately blanked out. The effect is that the calm, almost idyllic view is suddenly interrupted by these aggressive, almost hostile words that seem to be aimed at the viewer. It’s a clever play on the advertising technique of using bold slogans to grab attention. By turning what would be a serene landscape into a visual tension, Ruscha invites us to question how media and language can disrupt our perception of nature.
See it in person
Be Careful... You Hear Me? (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.
