{"product_id":"rafael-melendez-born-to-die","title":"Rafael Melendez — Born to Die","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnique artist’s book \/ assemblage publication\u003cbr\u003e2016\u003cbr\u003eApprox. 32 + 32 pages (64 pages total)\u003cbr\u003eDigitally manipulated screenshots and found images with text interventions\u003cbr\u003eHand-assembled and bound from two separate books joined at the spine\u003cbr\u003eOne-of-one\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCondition: unique handmade object with minor handling marks and material irregularities intrinsic to production.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBorn to Die\u003c\/em\u003e began through the collection of screenshots, saved images, and text fragments gathered and reorganized through a stream-of-consciousness process. Images were resized, cropped, duplicated, and altered through simple consumer software applications, allowing the work to remain close to the logic of accumulation rather than formal composition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe publication takes \u003cstrong\u003eMarina Abramović and Ulay’s\u003c\/strong\u003e performances \u003cem\u003eRelation in Time\u003c\/em\u003e (1977) and \u003cem\u003eRest Energy\u003c\/em\u003e (1980), together with \u003cstrong\u003eLouise Bourgeois’s\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eJanus\u003c\/em\u003e (1968), as underlying structural references rather than subjects for illustration. The paired body, the doubled body, tension, attachment, mirroring, dependence, and psychic division move through the publication in fragmented form.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhysically, the work consists of two separate 32-page books later joined into a single object through a \u003cstrong\u003edos-à-dos (back-to-back) binding structure\u003c\/strong\u003e, assembled with a deliberately loose spine connection. Traditionally the format allows two books to occupy one body while retaining separate orientations; here the logic is disrupted. The work behaves less as a conventional artist’s book than as a conjoined structure — two image sequences temporarily sharing a support while remaining partially independent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title \u003cem\u003eBorn to Die\u003c\/em\u003e introduces another circular structure: beginning and ending collapsed into a single phrase. Images circulate through the book in a similar way, appearing as residues rather than stable illustrations. Figures split, repeat, and return. Authorship itself moves between source material, appropriation, editing, and assembly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUnique work. Original period item.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rafael Melendez","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53515787895122,"sku":"RM-BTD-2016","price":300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0991\/5636\/1554\/files\/Born_to_Die_2016.jpg?v=1779342988","url":"https:\/\/thenewrare.com\/products\/rafael-melendez-born-to-die","provider":"The New Rare","version":"1.0","type":"link"}