Untitled (Death by Gun) 1990

This stack of paper, by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, holds a heavy weight, like a gravestone, of words and images printed in dark ink across each sheet. The simple act of stacking becomes monumental. I imagine the artist gathering these names and stories, layering them one by one, creating this quiet, stark archive. Think about what it must have been like to make something like this. The care and the grief. I imagine Gonzalez-Torres considering the impact each sheet would have, the story it would tell, and how it would contribute to the whole. It’s like a huge, minimal drawing, or a print gone wild. And here's the kicker: you can take a sheet. With each sheet taken, the stack diminishes, like a life fading. This piece echoes the work of other artists who use everyday materials to explore big feelings, inviting us to contemplate loss, memory, and the very act of bearing witness. It’s a powerful reminder that art is always in conversation, influencing, and responding to each other. It’s expression, it's protest, it’s poetry.