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Brought together by the Hammock Residency, Nathan Matthews and Emiliano Sepulveda have collaborated to produce Better Than The Devil. Throughout their residency they have been studying the dynamic between audience and performer, the expectation of theatrics, and the role of the devil within the mythology of rock music.
Inherent within any exchange between an audience and a performer, is that there is an unspoken contract that is agreed upon by both parties. This agreement is to suspend disbelief, which allows the performer to assume the role that they will be playing for the audience.
Another more mythical contract is the one that is made between a performer and the devil. The deal is made for the performer’s soul in exchange for fame and fortune and there is a long line of people who have been rumoured to have done this. If the rock star has not outright sold their souls to the devil then they are at least in the service of him, and their hedonistic lifestyles is held up as evidence of this agreement.
Subconscious messages that are embedded within the rock music are a big part of this mythology, and playing music backwards is said to reveal these messages. The reversed speech thought to be in these recordings mirrors the inversion that symbolic of the devil. Such as the inverted crucifix, inverted pentagram, or prayer that is recited backwards.
In the debut of Better Than The Devil, Emiliano and Nathan will reinvent themselves as rockstars in order to insert themselves into this mythology, asking the audience to join them in making this deal.
If you have not sold your soul at the door, and have since decided to do so, the artists have provided additional contracts that can then be mailed to:
Better Than The Devil
Nathan Matthews, Emiliano Sepulveda
C/o The Hammock residency
1923 Graveley Street, Vancouver BC
V5L 3B5
Better Than The Devil
Acquisition of the Soul
Contract
Short form: Document control # 438(e)/BP 2010
I, ………………………. being of sound mind and body, hereby forfeit ownership of my eternal undying soul and agree to confer all rights, use and privileges of it to Emiliano Sepulveda and Nathan Matthews of Better Than The Devil (BTTD), in exchange for free entry into the performance event of BTTD at the Hammock Residency. This agreement includes the exchange of my ability to dance, while I will however, retain sole ownership of my free will, and consciousness.
BTTD reserve the right to maintain ownership of my soul in perpetuity. This contract is non-negotiable and legally binding.
Date: ……………… Witness: ………………….
Signed: ………………… Signed: ……………………
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