With over three decades of continuous neo-actionist hyper-experimentation behind him, Istvan Kantor remains one of todays most active and provocative contributors to today's live-art/performance scene. Better known as Monty Cantsin, the founder of neoism, Kantor/Cantsin immigrated from Hungary to Canada in 1976. In collaboration with correspondence artist David Zack, Kantor launched the Monty Cantsin open-pop-star project in Portland, Oregon in 1978. He initiated both the international operations of Neoism and his major life-long perfromance "Blood Campaign" in 1979 in Montreal. In 1986 Kantor/Cantsin relocated to New York City, re-emerging as "self-appointed leader of the people of the Lower East Side". He has been arrested and imprisoned several times for his spontaneous interventions in museums, most recently in Berlin, 2004. Kantors's performance work explores the body as well as technology, from blood to video to physical gestures via digital sampling, breathing, computers or pneumatic machinery. He often incorporates objects such as steam irons, coat hangers, clocks, flags and megaphones into his actions. He likes to break things and set things on fire. He uses conflict and crisis to present his cause, often placing himself in the center of danger and uncertainty. In 2004, Kantor was the recipient of the Governor General's Award for Visual and Media Arts in Canada.