” Personal Plates”

Helena Wikström and
Karin Frennesson Westblad

Since the United States’ Supreme Court reintroduced the death penalty has more than 820 interns been executed. About one third of these executions took place in the State of Texas. On the Department of Criminal Justice’s homepage one can get detailed statistics regarding the executed and those waiting to be executed, those on the so called Death Row. From the statistics one can get information about the division; blacks/whites, women/men, age of the interns as well as the average time on Death Row. It is also possible to read the last statement, which the interns have the possibility to make before, in these cases, the lethal injection is given.
Until recently it was also possible to acquire detailed descriptions of the last meal, whished by each intern. This knowledge was in contrast to the other information and to a greater extent personal and touching.

During 2003 twenty-four persons were executed in Texas. From the list of the last meal for each of the name given interns we recreated in detail their last meal, by painting the meals on porcelaine plates.

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