The work is based on the text from Marcel Duchamp’s lecture “The Creative Act” (1957). It was re-performed in the studio by Dima Strakovsky and a lathe-cut record of the performance was produced.

For the live portion of the performance, Mathew Page, who also happens to be a lead vocalist and guitarist for the rock outfit Dream the Electric Sleep, is hooked up to custom electronics and is set to shred. This setup senses the sound levels and allows the record to spin only when the guitar is played. Matt plays a continuous rock solo for as long as it takes to get through the whole record.

Duchamp’s cool conceptual approach questions the nature of creative genius and positions audience members as co-creators of meaning; it is intentionally juxtaposed in this performance with the romantic notion of a lone guitar hero, channeling the “supernatural” powers of music. Both ultimately fail in their own wonderful, noisy and fruitful ways.