In one of his notes from 'A l'infinitif' MD includes a sketch of a cube containing a sphere labelled 'Echo. Virtual sound'. These words indicate a possible way of interpreting his apparent conflation of a readymade with the geometrical category of a continuum. An echo is a repetition. It is, in a sense, a reproduction or a mass-production of a natural phenomenon. The hidden source for the noise inside the ball of twine suggests a virtual sound, in the sense that it cannot be seen or identified. It is an echo of an object. The hidden source for the sound can be taken as a point source and thus can stand for an aspect of what virtuality means in terms of images: a virtual image involves a point source being reflected in a mirror. MD wants to talk about a virtual sound, and he can do so only by analogy. It is not wholly clear what a hidden noise could possibly be.

- it stands for an elsewhere, a 'culture', a place, a source.

- its production is unique and transitory.

- its reproduction as music is intensely capitalised, and channelled through institutions.

- sound is rarely understood as a medium of knowledge.

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