Here is a fun new chapter in the otherwise exhausting saga that is Kanye West’s rightward turn: an elaborate conspiracy theory. Over the course of just a couple of weeks, West has allied himself with conservatives like Candace Owens, tweeted his “love” for Donald Trump, and said that slavery was “a choice.” All of this has prompted a flurry of deliberation about West’s motivations and even some unwelcome speculation about his mental health. But could it all be a Joaquin Phoenix–style stunt?

It certainly wouldn’t be out of the question, given West’s track record as a provocateur—remember the Confederate arm patch? Perhaps no one has put more thought into this than the man known as Snowcone, co-host of the Kansas City–based radio show The Church of Lazlo, who laid it out in detail in a Twitter thread worthy of Charlie Kelly:

Get your tinfoil hats and red string, I’ve got a conspiracy theory: @kanyewest is in the middle of a performance art piece and the clues are right in front of us. A thread: — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

1. First we need to establish who @DenimTears is. Forgive me if this is well known info, I’m not great at keeping up with every celebrity. His name is Tremaine Emory. He’s a collaborator and friend of Kanye. pic.twitter.com/aI0S5SUUMU — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

2) last night Kanye tweeted this picture. This appears to be Tremaine at the table. We also know from a previous tweet from Tremaine that he’s in Calabasas, where Kanye lives. pic.twitter.com/w3OKmN5QTs — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

3) Kanye also mentioned in his interview with @cthagod “my boy Tremaine tweeted...” so we can assume that he’s both friends with Tremaine and looks at his Twitter account. I promise this info will be important coming up. — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

4. A week or so after rejoining twitter, Kanye tweeted these images on 4/22. The first two images involve David Hammons and the third and fourth involve Joseph Beuys. pic.twitter.com/Q1NdrXq91J — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

5. So let’s start with the first two images involving David Hammons. After Kanye tweeted these images, Tremaine quote tweeted them with this emoji: ♠️. I believe this is referring to Hammons work which aimed to “turn racist cliches (spade) on its head.” pic.twitter.com/HF0Qaqjcxd — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

6. As for the other two images of Joseph Beuys- the image Kanye tweeted was from an art installation Beuys did in 1974 called I Like America and America Likes Me, where he locked himself into a room with a coyote for 3 days. — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

7. The purpose of this performance with a coyote, “a wild spirit - often thought of as America’s untamed spirit” was to hopefully make the coyote “tolerant and accepting through Beuys’ desire to heal.” pic.twitter.com/Z6NYJapmwL — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

8. I believe Kanye is doing a modern take on Beuys piece with the coyote. He’s embraced what might be considered the coyote of today. Gotten close to it. Trump, Candace Owens, Alt Right. Maybe he sees this as a better chance to “tame” the coyote than more traditional methods. — Jon Snowcone 🐺🐲 (@Snowcone965) May 2, 2018

Snowcone goes on to flag a number of Kanye’s tweets to support his theory, including one that encourages artists to “take ideas and update them at your will” and another with a drawing that Snowcone suggests resembles performance artist Andy Kaufman. He also points out that Tremaine Emory has, on multiple occasions, shared West’s posts with the comment “the prestige,” which you may remember from the Christopher Nolan movie of the same name as the final part of a magic trick or illusion.

The whole thing really comes together when Snowcone spotlights another potentially revealing Emory tweet …

Let’s play twister let’s play risk, yeah yeah yeah... — DenimTears (@DenimTears) April 25, 2018

… which he notes are lyrics to REM’s “Man on the Moon,” a song that references—yep—Andy Kaufman.

The theory is actually pretty compelling, but even if it’s true, there’s still one big question left to answer: Why is he doing this to us? Is West’s performance a cynical move to stir up controversy and sell more albums? A commentary on how celebrity culture has overtaken our politics, and vice versa? A sincere effort to try to infiltrate the right and change some conservative minds? Some combination of all three?! Please excuse me for a moment while I unspool my skein of red yarn.