Absence: The Cosmic Performance
- Paper number
IAC-17,E5,3,3,x41491
- Year
2017
- Abstract
The Cosmos is – according to Carl Sagan – “all that is or was or ever will be”. My performance is all that is, or was, or ever will be, with the exception of my presence. My performance is my absence. The Cosmos is my stage. I was absent at the Big Bang. I will be absent at the end of the Universe. I am absent, was, and will always be, from Alpha Centauri, and I am absent from Mars. My absence can be noticed at the Guggenheim Museum in the New York City, and at Tate Modern in London. I am absent, most of the time, from other people’s houses and from museums. I manipulate the space-time continuum through my presence but, unlike God, I am not ubiquitous. My presence somewhere means my absence everywhere else. My absence is imprinted in all the other art there is, on Earth and on other planets. Leonardo painted Mona Lisa in my absence – I was not there to mess up his work. The Bayeux tapestry was done in my absence. Picasso painted Guernica in my absence. John Lennon sang “Imagine” in my absence. When Marina Abramovic performed “Rhythm 0” in Naples, I was not there. One can say that my art is mixed with theirs. My performance art – my absence – is almost universal. With the exception of the space and time where and when I am present – an infinitesimal amount - my performance spans the whole space-time continuum, and beyond. Note: This paper will be an anti-performance, for I will be present during its delivery.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)