Manuel J. Perez III, an interdisciplinary artist and experimental performer based out of the northeastern USA, began Death Rattled in 2019. Their artistic work has been shared internationally (Turkey, Germany, Canada, etc.) within the bland white walls of institutions such as Istanbul Bilgi University, TU-Berlin, and Wesleyan University, as well as within thriving DIY communities worldwide.
Death Rattled, his primary creative vehicle, began in 2019 out of a desire to explore the assembling, juxtaposition, and disfiguration of recognizable symbols. Their work continues to explore this through many multimedia and audiovisual mediums (e.g., digital collage, embodied performance, music genre mashups, music videos, soundscapes, sampling, etc.). DR is proudly anti-cop and anti-fascist.
Each work consists of images uploaded on royalty-free image websites that are disfigured through digital processing, specifically layering and filtering techniques. DR’s image sources now include large corporations, search engines, and other capitally-driven enterprises as a politically charged means towards reclamation. This process explores one way out of our perpetual commodification hellscape of capitalism by using reclaimed audiovisual media to make the old new again.
The cold, alien nature of Mind draws its power from “metal,” “brass,” “steel,” and “mines.” One of Death Rattled’s earlier works, an emphasis is placed on finding a balance of the textural nature of each source image. The cold, icy coal/cobalt mines encroach upon the mind.
Schism shoots off like an arrow of longing darkness. Its series, Distance, emerges from ruminations on long-distance connection. Whether a letter, video chat, or simply a memory, the communication of our being can be received by others across time when embedded in objects, places, and memories. We are lucky to be perceived and held by others. Schism seeks to elaborate on this disconnected connection with its obscuring of temporal and geographic location (in this case an European city).
Comprised of images sourced from keywords like “algorithm,” “computer,” and “programming,” Automata offers a glimpse into the way we visually represent the many computer systems in our lives at our current epoch. Pulls toward and away, from the past into the future, are present.
Many of us are plagued by the digital and capitalistic static of social media profiles, online banking, digital alarms, and online applications daily. Solitarian, and the series Talking Point from which it emerges, draws its source material from keywords like “community,” “meeting,” and “app” in hopes of bringing attention to our lack of attention when with others in our community. Solitarian hides the communal togetherness of the everyday behind digital artifacts and abstraction, reduced to a colorful mush of people in praise of…something.
Connections are all around us. They are what help ground us, uplift us, and help us breathe fresh air. Connections also bring entropy into our lives: new opportunities for change and growth. Untitled #1 from the series Struggle is a very personal reflection on the potential of connection and the intricacies it brings.
Keep up with Manuel J. Perez III at the following links:
Death Rattled: deathrattled.com | @death.rattled on IG
Manuel’s Solo Works: mjpiii.bandcamp.com | @mjpiii01 on IG