Javier Perez, Memento Mori (Rosario), 2008-9

Rosario includes a series of fifty-nine life-size bronze skulls that are chained together to form a full rosary. Where commonly the medallion on the rosary includes an image of the Virgin Mary or a saint, Perez has altered tradition and inscribed the words “memento mori” on the centerpiece. These words, “remember that you must die,” makes reference to life’s fragility and Christian morality. The replacement of shackles where the crucifix usually exists on the rosary can be connected to the individual’s struggle to escape the inevitability of death and the ephemerality of time, the very meaning of memento mori.