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Luis Camnitzer   "Last Words"
3.9. - 23.10.2010


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Death row prisoners’ final statements are the texts that constitute “Last Words.” Forgiveness, apologies, declarations of love to mothers, sisters, daughters, and others are interspersed with phrases alluding to death; the refrains like “I love you” is followed by “I am ready” or “It’s my hour.”




Camnitzer collected these phrases from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s website, and reprinted those that include the word “love.” Printed in reddish brown toned ink on six sheets of paper measuring approximately five and a half by four feet each, these works’ human scale mirrors viewers’ bodies. Their formal rigor alludes to minimalism, but the emotion of the texts undercuts this elegance.