Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. Street action at the 6th Neoist Apartment Festival in Montreal, 1983 Neoism refers both to a specific subcultural network of artistic performance and media experimentalists and more generally to a practical underground philosophy. ...

The name was coined in 1978 by the critic, prankster and Mail Artist David Zack as a nom de plume for the Latvian-born poet and singer Maris Kundzins. The name also alludes to Martial Canterel, the wizard-hero of Raymond Roussel's novel "Locus Solus", and to the Californian performance artist Monte Cazazza. It can further be read as a pun on "Monty can't sing" and, in allusion to religious free spirit movements which collectively adopted the names of Jesus or saints, "Monty can't sin". Zack intended Monty Cantsin to be an "open pop star". In a philosophy anticipating that of free software and open source, he envisioned that anyone could perform in his name and thus contribute to and participate in his fame and achievements. Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. ... Raymond Roussel (Paris, January 20, 1877–Palermo, July 14, 1933) was a French poet, novelist, playwright, musician, chess enthusiast, neurasthenic, homosexual, drug addict, and probable suicide. ... Performance art is art where the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time, constitute the work. ... Monte Cazazza is an American artist and composer best known for his seminal role in helping shape the early landscape of industrial music through recordings with the Sheffield, England-based Industrial Records in the mid-1970s. ... This 11th-century portrait is one of many images of Jesus in which a halo with a cross is used. ... In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... Free software, as defined by Richard Stallman and his Free Software Foundation, can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed. ... Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ...

Zack's call upon to adopt the name Monty Cantsin was taken up in 1979 by the Hungarian-Canadian performance artist Istvan Kantor who amalgamated the name into Neoism. As the shared identity of all Neoists, Monty Cantsin was transformed from a "pop star" to a radical identity experiment occupying the everyday life of Neoists and culminating in frequently extremist ways at Neoist Apartment Festivals ("APTs"). Still, the open pop star concept lived on in a series of electropop and industrial music albums and performances of, mainly, Istvan Kantor. Performance art is art where the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time, constitute the work. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Street action at the 6th Neoist Apartment Festival in Montreal, 1983 Neoism refers both to a specific subcultural network of artistic performance and media experimentalists and more generally to a practical underground philosophy. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Electropop is a genre of synthesizer pop music which flourished during the early 1980s, although the first recordings were made in the late 1970s. ... Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of electronic and experimental music. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ...

Later multiple names like Karen Eliot, Asim Butt, Luther Blissett, and Michael K drew inspiration from Monty Cantsin and Neoism, but intentionally avoided association with physical persons, being conceived either as mere signatures (Eliot), collective media phantoms (Blissett, K) or multiple single collective experiments like Asim Butt. Karen Eliot is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ... Asim Butt is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ... The first notable Luther Blissett is the footballer. ... Like Monty Cantsin, Karen Eliot and Luther Blissett, Michael K. is a psuedonym that anyone is welcome to use for an artistic endeavour. ... Street action at the 6th Neoist Apartment Festival in Montreal, 1983 Neoism refers both to a specific subcultural network of artistic performance and media experimentalists and more generally to a practical underground philosophy. ... Karen Eliot is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ... The first notable Luther Blissett is the footballer. ... Like Monty Cantsin, Karen Eliot and Luther Blissett, Michael K. is a psuedonym that anyone is welcome to use for an artistic endeavour. ... Asim Butt is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ...