A Symmetrical Performance

Artist(s): Ned Sublette

Date: December 7, 1977

On December 7, 1977, at The Kitchen, Ned Sublette dressed as a monk, stood behind an altar (complete with burning candles and skulls), and recited a series of texts while cello and violin (played by Martha Siegel and Elizabeth Sublette, respectively) softly droned. After thirty-five minutes of this, a tape-recording of the performance was re-played backwards to the audience. Though originally titled Voice, Low Strings, Chromelodeon, Tape, Hair, Clothes, Bone, Sublette’s night at The Kitchen quickly became known as his A Symmetrical Performance. A Symmetrical Performance marked the first of many Sublette performances at The Kitchen.