Each of the twenty–seven keys in Litanies is inscribed with a word from a text by artist Marcel Duchamp (American, born France. 1887–1968), whose emphasis on the ideas presented by a work of art rather than its aesthetic appearance informed much Conceptual art of the 1960s. When Litanies was purchased by architect Philip Johnson, Morris did not receive payment in a timely fashion. He created Document in response. The typed and notarized text serves to negate the "aesthetic quality and content of the original work," which is presented as "Exhibit A" in frontal and profile views. Johnson then purchased Document, thereby accepting the loss of the value of his first acquisition.
Gallery label from Here Is Every. Four Decades of Contemporary Art, September 10, 2008–March 23, 2009.
