LAST WORDS: An Installation

September 7 – December 15, 2017

University Library Gallery

California State University, Sacramento

The words we speak veer from the noble to the ignominious. They may be truthful and precise, or they may be thoughtless, manipulative, and obscuring. In this moment of blatantly dishonest political speech LAST WORDS memorializes the final words we utter. We can't necessarily know what our last words will be. They may be silly, inconsequential, tender, droll, and heartbreaking. And what if they were a cynical lie? But these last words are often unforgettable to those who are present to hear them, lingering in memory long after their speaker went forever silent. This installation is comprised of last words said by both public figures and people who were known only by persons close to them. Many of the words are stitched on blankets for those lucky enough to die under the soft cover of a blanket. Some are fashioned from wire and, like memory's emissary, appear to float in the air. The speakers are anonymous, for it's the universality of this exchange that LAST WORDS honors.