Before Ye, and before Tadao Ando, Ezra Pound took interest in the Malatesta Temple, an unfinished cathedral in Rimini. Upon learning of the heavy damage sustained by the building in World War II, Pound authored two “forbidden” cantos in which he rallied for a revival of fascist Italy. After the war, the temple was reconstructed from its rubble by the Monuments Men.

Before Ye, in 1971, Chris Burden was shot in the left arm at a gallery called F-Space in a performance titled Shoot. Three years later, for Trans-Fixed, Burden’s hands were nailed to a Volkswagen; the car’s engine was revved for two minutes, with a shirtless, crucified Burden on its roof. In 2013, Kanye West founded Yeezy, a fashion brand. In 2021, he legally changed his name to Ye. In 2022, Yeezy’s collaborations with Adidas and Gap were cancelled following anti-semitic remarks posted to Twitter by Ye. After a marketing spree in early 2025, Ye announced that Yeezy stores are coming soon. As of April 17, 2025, no such stores exist.