Absentee Body. Performative Absence

Abstract

This article is an attempt to describe the phenomenon of the body absence in artistic creation. It focuses on musicians who, in spite of their popularity, withdrew from live performance, even at the cost of ending their own careers. The study examines artists from diverse creative backgrounds, concentrating on those whose withdrawal from the stage was motivated by a pursuit of creative freedom, which was the key criterion for the selection of these case studies. The Canadian pianist Glenn Gould and the British singer, songwriter, and lyricist Mark Hollis serve as primary examples.