In this photograph from a series devoted to the spaces of capital punishment, the electric chair sits in stark contrast to the otherwise clinical atmosphere. While lethal injection is now the primary method of execution in the United States, electrocution remains an alternative form in nine states, should the condemned person choose it. Recent efforts to make lethal-injection chemicals unavailable have led several states to consider returning to electrocution. In Virginia, where this photograph was taken, the electric chair remains an option; it was last used on January 16, 2013. The State of Virginia requires ordinary citizens to act as witnesses in its executions; similarly, Devlin’s images confront viewers with the real spaces and implements of capital punishment.
","remarks":"Photography and Belonging rotation"},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"The artist; the Aaron Siskind Foundation; gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1994.","remarks":null}],"media":[{"id":83909,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV10544","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"Inventory Project"}],"hasimage":"true","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1994,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 54, no. 1 (1995): p. 40-79.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1994,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 54, no. 1 (1995): p. 40-79., p. 62","date":1995,"id":569,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774717"}],"exhibitions":[],"geography":[],"terms":[{"id":2064951,"term":"chairs","aatid":300037772,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2053200,"term":"photographs","aatid":300046300,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2038492,"term":"American","aatid":300107956,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2053737,"term":"color photographs","aatid":300128359,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2106630,"term":"rooms","aatid":300004044,"termtype":"Subject"}],"classifications":[{"id":2053200,"classification":"photographs"},{"id":2053737,"classification":"color photographs"}],"cultures":[],"cultureterms":[{"id":2038492,"culture":"American"}],"periods":[],"periodterms":[],"attribute_groups":[{"id":2199324,"term":"Art Since 1945","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199325,"term":"North American Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199326,"term":"Photography","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"image","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"48.90"},{"element":"image","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"49.10"},{"element":"sheet","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"50.90"},{"element":"sheet","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"61.10"}],"packages":[{"packageid":183111,"name":"Photo_remainder"}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV10544"],"displaymaker":"Lucinda Devlin, Born 1947, Ann Arbor, MI; active Greensboro, NC","displayculture":null,"displayperiod":null,"caption":"Lucinda Devlin (Born 1947, Ann Arbor, MI; active Greensboro, NC), Electric Chair, Greensville Correctional Facility, Jarratt, VA from the series \"The Omega Suites\", 1991. Chromogenic print; 49.1 x 48.9 cm (image), 61.1 x 50.9 cm (sheet). The Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship Collection, gift of the artist (x1994-106)","captionhtml":"Lucinda Devlin (Born 1947, Ann Arbor, MI; active Greensboro, NC), Electric Chair, Greensville Correctional Facility, Jarratt, VA from the series \"The Omega Suites\", 1991. Chromogenic print; 49.1 x 48.9 cm (image), 61.1 x 50.9 cm (sheet). The Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship Collection, gift of the artist (x1994-106)","published_date":"2026-03-31 02:20:48.359220","campusart":[{"campuscollections":"false","campusart":0,"neighborhood":null,"lat":null,"lon":null}],"extended_content":false}