This beautifully packaged conceptual project is a very different move in a very different "found art" direction than the anti-copyright creations that Negativland is more known for, charting new territory for the group in many ways (and if you are familiar with Davy Rothbart’s FOUND magazine, this project was what inspired him to start FOUND).

DEATHSENTENCES OF THE POLISHED AND STRUCTURALLY WEAK is a 6"x12", 64-page full-color owner’s manual... which comes with a 45-minute CD soundtrack. Conceived over many months of "scrapping" at auto wrecking yards and poring over the artifacts found inside of wrecked cars, the visual side of this project is a poignant, voyeuristic, disturbing and occasionally funny glimpse into the lives of those behind the wheel.

The CD is a meticulously layered, ever-shifting electro-acoustic soundscape, created to accompany the pages of the book. No bass lines, no melody, no dialogue, no singing, no beat – the sound of Negativland’s studio being destroyed in a car crash across 8 analog tracks.