Fahrenheit 451 – Heat-sensitive Artist Book

Concept

Super Terrain, artists and graphic designers collective, reinterprets the science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451.

In this dystopia, books – being the objects of resistance to the tyranny of happiness – are forbidden, tracked down and burned by the firemen. This special edition, appearing at first black as if carbonized, reveals its visionary content as soon as it is exposed to heat from a flame or hand. A sensitive link is drawn between the book as a material and the content of the novel. The paperback goes back to black as it cools down.

In the time of ubiquitous digital and screens, this edition embodies the questions raised by Ray Bradbury on the role of memory and culture in our society.

After the broadcasting of the display video, there was a great demand and Super Terrain decided to launch a pre-order campaign for the production of Fahrenheit 451, limited to 100 copies.

— Technical details :
Limited edition of 100 copies
Signed and numbered
Language : US version,  original text by Ray Bradbury
Dimensions : 12×18 cm / 4.72 x 7.09 inches
Printing : Offset + Screenprinting
Binding : Edition bound
194 pages on fireproof paper (M1)
+ Soft cover
+ Printed book edge
+ Book case

Retail Price :
395 euros — about 451 $
Shipping charges are included in the pre-order price.
Customs dues are not included for order coming from out of European Union.

All images of the book displayed on the website are made with a book-prototype. Non-contractual Vues. ©Super Terrain

Manifesto

Do you ever read any of the books you burn? ¹

Super Terrain, artist and graphic designers collective, presents a limited edition of Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel : Fahrenheit 451. This dystopia shows firemen burning books as they are seen as obstacles to peace and happiness. The author questions the central role played by books in culture and exposes the possible drifts of a society ruled by immediacy. This tyranny of happiness prevents any form of contestation that could be nurtured by reflexion, memory or culture in books or works of art.

It’ s fine work. Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn ‘em to ashes, then burn the ashes. That’s our official slogan.²

This new edition of Fahrenheit 451 by Super Terrain is an artist’s book in which the object echoes the fiction it contains. At first glance, it is completely black, as if carbonized, already a victim of the firemen’s assault. But, as you warm it up with a flame or with your hand, page after page, the black ink disappears and reveals Bradbury’s text. As it cools down, it goes back to black, neat and apparently deprived of its power of subversion, memory and reflexion.

Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.³

This black book could be part of Bradbury’s fiction as a trick to keep and hide away the books from the pyromaniac firemen. By setting the book on fire, the reader plunges into the novel and becomes the hyphen between reality and fiction. This edition underlines Fahrenheit 451’s contemporaneity. In the 1950’s when the novel was written, screens began creeping in homes, which they invade nowadays.

You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.⁴

In the time of continuous flow of images, selfies, fake news, tweets and other “digest-digest-digests”, Super Terrain delivers us the contemporary reading of Fahrenheit 451. So far, the display video of Fahrenheit 451 by Super Terrain has more than three million views on the internet and social networks, which shows a great resonance with our contemporary world.

1 • Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, p. 21, Simon & Schusters Paperback.
2 • Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, p. 29, Simon & Schusters Paperback.
3 • Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, p. 99, Simon & Schusters Paperback.
4 • Ray Bradbury in an interview about Fahrenheit 451.

Sale

100 copies are available, each copy is signed and numbered by Super Terrain.

Retail Price :
395 euros — about 451 $
Shipping charges are included in the price.
Customs dues are not included for order coming from out of European Union.

Order here

Shipping
You will received a tracking number to follow the delivery. The book will be shipped in its dedicated book-case and in an appropriate packaging.

Press Corner

A press kit and some pictures of the book are available on demand. For every use of these materials please credit ©Super Terrain. On social media, please use #superterrain #F451 #Fahrenheit451 #burningbook

For any other press inquiries, please contact us editions[at]superterrain[dot]fr

Featured in :

— This immersive reading platform makes for a more difficult reading experience, but provides a visual reminder of the book’s concepts, offering more stimulation than most books can. • TrendHunter

— Un livre qui ne vit que par le feu • Daily Geek Show

— Le livre montre ainsi la résistance de la culture face à la dictature de la pensée. • Créapils

— Il n’en fallait pas plus au collectif Super Terrain pour imaginer un contre-autodafé, signe de résistance de la littérature à toute épreuve. • Étapes

— Pour cette réédition du livre sorti initialement en 1953, le collectif de graphistes français Super Terrain a choisi d’innover • HuffingtonPost

Picture extracted from Fahrenheit 451, movie directed by Francois Truffaut, 1966.