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Monty Cantsin

Monty Cantsin is a multiple, open identity created by artist David Zack in 1978 that has been claimed and given life by diverse artists and musicians. She is a mythical figure in stories, narratives, falsifications and artistic actionisms. David Zack thus applied the principle of the multiple not only to an artist's work, but to the artist's personality itself. He described the genesis as follows:

"Maris and I were in Portland. We'd been working with a Xerox 3107 that makes big copies and reductions. We were making giant folios; monster folios and dinosaur folios we called them. And one night Maris started fooling around with the tape recorder, singing songs in Latuvian about toilets and traffic. Well, we decided to make a pop star out of Maris. But it had to be an open pop star, that is, anyone who wanted could assume the personality of the pop star. This open pop star would be the most talented in history, better than Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Sal Mineo and even Ry Cooder all rolled together in one. Pop stars have always been special to me, growing up the son of a symphony conductor the way I did. To me they stand for rebellian and acceptance, revolution and success and a whole lot of other things at the same time. We were mouthing Maris Kundzins' name, and it came out Monty Cantsins. Then we got to saying can't sin and can't sing and quite a few other things to give the impression that this pop star could be a thief as well as a saint." (David Zack) 

PS

Works for listening