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.