Art Installation Honors U.S. Death Row Exonerees

Biography: Unwritten by Toby Lee Greenberg high­lights the ruined lives of those exon­er­at­ed from U.S. death rows through an art instal­la­tion of books. According to a press release from the artist, the instal­la­tion of emp­ty books at The Gallery at Penn College reflects the ​“frag­ile lives wast­ed and lost with­in a sys­tem” and prompts view­ers to ​“con­sid­er the sim­ple moments so often tak­en for granted.” 

Each book high­lights the life of an exoneree as a biog­ra­phy, includ­ing the name of the exoneree and a sub­ti­tle con­vey­ing details about their lives; unlike a nor­mal book, the pages of these books are sealed shut with cement to draw par­al­lels to a prison cell. Only on the final page is there more infor­ma­tion about the exoneree, begin­ning with a state­ment regard­ing a missed life event or mile­stone, such as ​“build­ing a cred­it his­to­ry.” This infor­ma­tion is fol­lowed by the year and place they were sen­tenced to death, amount of time wrong­ful­ly incar­cer­at­ed on death row, and the year exon­er­at­ed, details that are also found in the Death Penalty Information Center’s Innocence Database. Each of these biogra­phies is dis­played atop of float­ing shelves of unti­tled books, which pay ​“homage to those wrong­ly con­vict­ed but who per­ished on death row.” 

Visitors are encour­aged to pick up the books. In inter­act­ing with the instal­la­tion and read­ing about the many lost moments, vis­i­tors can iden­ti­fy with the sub­jects. ​“This sim­ple act momen­tar­i­ly com­pels us to iden­ti­fy with the help­less­ness of the wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed,” states the press release. As part of a pre­vi­ous exhib­it at Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca, New York, jour­nal­ist Warren Greenwood wrote that Ms. Greenberg’s instal­la­tion was the ​“most poignant piece.” Upon find­ing out that these emp­ty biogra­phies belong to those wrong­ful­ly incar­cer­at­ed for decades, Mr. Greenwood states that ​“the effect is heartbreaking.” 

Currently on dis­play at The Gallery at Penn College as part of the exhib­it Books Undone 2: The Art of Altered Books, juror and artist Scott McCarney select­ed Ms. Greenberg’s work for hon­or­able men­tion. Mr. McCarney reviewed 163 works by 77 artists, ulti­mate­ly select­ing 64 works by 41 artists from 20 states and rec­og­niz­ing six artists with awards. The exhi­bi­tion, which is on dis­play until July 21, 2024, is free and open to the public.