Dead Wrestlers: Their Words, 2015
Lithography and letterpress, 4″ x 6″ x .25″
Edition of 48“Dead Wrestlers: Their Words” is a limited edition lithographic and letterpress artists’ book printed while studying at The Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The book features eight 4” x 6” enlarged portraits of deceased professional wrestlers scanned from sports trading cards collected by the artist between 1984 and 1992. The portraits are hand printed CMYK separations of the original CMYK offset mechanically printed process, manipulating the halftone process into a translated copy of itself. The reverse of each card features a hand-set letterpress transcription of promotional interviews given by the wrestlers, via analog video sources uploaded to online digital media content providers. Through the act of media translation and transcription, the play between old and new technologies, “Dead Wrestlers: Their Words” addresses commodification, classism, and fame– and its often-times deadly repercussions in professional wrestling. “Dead Wrestlers: Their Words” questions our inherent role as consumers of popular culture, ultimately forcing the consequences of our collective actions squarely upon shared shoulders.
