Multiplication (from the series Imaginary Records)

Best known today for his 24-hour video mashup of movie clips called The Clock (2010), Marclay was famous in the 1980s and 1990s for his inventive visual treatments of musical flotsam and jetsam. In this example from his series Imaginary Records, the artist created Duchampian "assisted readymades" by painting or collaging directly onto the covers of little-known albums salvaged from flea markets and secondhand stores. His often imperceptible alterations embody the paradoxical idea that records are not identical reproductions of unique music performances but instead inherently collaborative and malleable cultural products, which depend on the individual response of each listener.