A Bullet for Buñuel: Fragments of a Failed Bullet documents Rick Myers’ attempt to complete a project begun by the late filmmaker Luis Buñuel: to create a bullet possessing such a weak charge that it would simply bounce off the filmmaker’s shirt when fired at him. Consulting with the estate and sources ranging from online forums for bullet makers to a ballistics lab associated with the United States Secret Service, Myers sought to make the bullet and fire it at a shirt that had been worn by Buñuel. While trying to bring this absurdist endeavor to completion, the artist was met with a colorful cast of characters and failures at almost every turn.

A Bullet for Buñuel has taken many forms—a video work, a multiple, and a performative lecture—all of which are represented in this publication. Myers’ writing, research, correspondence, and photographs are also included in the book, which synthesizes years of work into a singular meditation on the poetics of failure.

Rick Myers is a Manchester-born artist and publisher living in Massachusetts. Myers works in a variety of media including video, installation, and drawing in addition to producing artists’ books and editions. He has recently had solo exhibitions at The Poetry Library at Southbank Centre and The Book Library at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London; Printed Matter, New York; and White Columns, New York.

6 x 9 inches
116 pages
Paperback
B&W
May 2017
ISBN: 9780991558544

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Managing Editor: James Hoff
Designer: Rick Myers