The piece highlights sensory data that usually goes unnoticed—what Samama calls "background noise"—precisely because these elements are what anchor us to reality.

The performance often moves through non-traditional spaces, such as lobbies, elevator shafts, and basements, treating the venue itself as a "background material" to be excavated.

The work was notably performed at The Chocolate Factory Theater in Long Island City in 2014.

Background Materials is a hybrid event that combines two of Samama’s previous performance pieces into a single narrative arc: Core Material Action & Meaning The concrete wall

Reviewers from the New York Times and footage from Vimeo describe several defining features of the work: