35.   THE VOICES

On the day before the action Monastyrski and Romashko recorded their conversation (45 minutes) which concerned the last year’s action titled "Description of an Action" and the forthcoming "The Voices" during which the recording was to be used (see "The Dialogue"). In the course of the action which took place indoors (at Monastyrski’s apartment) Romashko and Monastyrski put on headphones and while listening to the recorded conversation, they started simultaneously vocalizing it for the audience. Romashko repeated Monastyrski’s words on the cassette, and vice versa.

At the same time a recording of I.Kabakov’s voice made during "Description of an Action" was being played back through speakers. After finishing vocalizing the dialogue, the participants put off the headphones and switched off the tape recorder playing back I.Kabakov’s spoken report. Then Monastyrski read aloud the text prepared for the action titled "The Voices" (see text "With a Wheel in One’s Head").

The visual set up of ‘The Voices’ consists of a black box and three electric torches which are switched on and which jut out of the box.  The box is then placed behind a balcony door, and a piece of black rubber cable is extended from a bathroom through an open window into the box.  In order to conceal the box (and torches) it is placed on the floor in a space where it is not immediately noticeable.

 

Moscow

4th of January, 1985

A.Monastyrski, S.Romashko

Viewers:

I.Kabakov, Vs.Nekrasov, I.Bakstein, V.Sorokin, Yu.Leiderman, A.Zhigalov, N.Abalakova, D.Prigov, V.Mochalova, L.Rubinstein, S.Haensgen, S.Letov + 3 others