--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Performance's being...becomes itself…" description: "\"Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance.\" — Peggy Phelan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg" --- # Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance. ![“Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance.” quote by Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg) > “Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance.” [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Performance gains its true essence when it disappears, suggesting that art's impact lies beyond its visible presence. **In simple terms:** Art lives beyond its visible form. Key Takeaway Value the lingering effect of performance. Themes performance presence absence Mood enigmatic contemplative Type theoretical inspirational When to use this quote - stage productions - installation art - digital media Key Concepts theatre studies philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does disappearance mean in your work? - How can you make invisible impact visible? A Different Perspective Disappearance may be misinterpreted as loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disappearance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappearance/) [Performance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performance/) [Performance Disappearance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performance-disappearance-3916476/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) ## Related quotes > [Performance's only life is in the present. Performance cannot be saved, recorded, documented, or otherwise participate in the circulation of representations of representations: once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/performance-s-only-life-is-in-the-present-performance-cannot-be-saved/) [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) > [A dance performance is rather like going out into a battlefield. You have to hold the attention of as many as five to 10,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamini-krishnamurthy/a-dance-performance-is-rather-like-going-out-into-a-battlefield-you/) [Yamini Krishnamurthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamini-krishnamurthy/) > [Whenever I do a performance I always hope it is the best day of my life. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiromi/whenever-i-do-a-performance-i-always-hope-it-is-the-best-day-of-my/) [Hiromi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiromi/) > [All good performance starts with clear goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/all-good-performance-starts-with-clear-goals/) [Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/) > [The real secret of magic lies in the performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/the-real-secret-of-magic-lies-in-the-performance/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [How much we like ourselves governs our performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/how-much-we-like-ourselves-governs-our-performance/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [I know what I want, and I know what needs to be done to make my performance better. So I do these little askings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-netrebko/i-know-what-i-want-and-i-know-what-needs-to-be-done-to-make-my/) [Anna Netrebko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-netrebko/) > [Rapturous and full bodied performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-jowitt/rapturous-and-full-bodied-performance/) [Deborah Jowitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-jowitt/) > [There is no better education than rap battling in terms of performance. It makes you fearless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doc-brown/there-is-no-better-education-than-rap-battling-in-terms-of/) [Doc Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doc-brown/) > [The most important thing about Jazz at Lincoln Center is the fact that it's the first time that perhaps the most important art form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-vinoly/the-most-important-thing-about-jazz-at-lincoln-center-is-the-fact/) [Rafael Vinoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-vinoly/) > [Every medium has its advantages and weaknesses and there are many things I can put down on paper that I might not be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-wright/every-medium-has-its-advantages-and-weaknesses-and-there-are-many/) [Lawrence Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-wright/) > [In acting, you are fulfilled if you give justice to your role... if you are able to do a credible performance and touch the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-hutton/in-acting-you-are-fulfilled-if-you-give-justice-to-your-role-if-you/) [Timothy Hutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-hutton/) > [Performance capture is a tool that young actors will need in the next 10, 20 years. It's on the increase, as you say. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/performance-capture-is-a-tool-that-young-actors-will-need-in-the-next/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [I am always really buzzed after each performance, and at around one in the morning, Ill hit a brick wall and need to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hattie-morahan/i-am-always-really-buzzed-after-each-performance-and-at-around-one-in/) [Hattie Morahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hattie-morahan/) > [The best thing about the term 'performance artist' is that it includes just about everything you might want to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/the-best-thing-about-the-term-performance-artist-is-that-it-includes/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) ## More by Peggy Phelan > [Patronizing the Arts is a brilliantly nuanced assessment of why universities must become art patrons. Learning from the twentieth-century university's embrace of Big Science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/patronizing-the-arts-is-a-brilliantly-nuanced-assessment-of-why/) [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) > [Performance's only life is in the present. Performance cannot be saved, recorded, documented, or otherwise participate in the circulation of representations of representations: once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/performance-s-only-life-is-in-the-present-performance-cannot-be-saved/) [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) > [“If representational visibility equals power, then almost-naked young white women should be running Western culture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/if-representational-visibility-equals-power-then-almost-naked-young/) [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) > [“Life, like the trance we call Love, might begin with a look, a glance, an exchange between eyes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/life-like-the-trance-we-call-love-might-begin-with-a-look-a-glance-an/) [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) [Explore all 5 Peggy Phelan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) ## More Disappearance quotes > [I regret that there aren't more short stories in other magazines. But in a certain way, I think the disappearance of the short-story template…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-regret-that-there-aren-t-more-short-stories-in-other-magazines-but/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [While I complain of being able to glimpse no more than the shadow of the past, I may be insensitive to reality as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/while-i-complain-of-being-able-to-glimpse-no-more-than-the-shadow-of/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-solo/my-family-doesn-t-do-happy-endings-we-do-sad-endings-or-frustrating/) [Hope Solo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-solo/) > [Fundamentalists are panicked by the apparent disintegration of the family, the disappearance of certainty and the decay of morality. Fear leads them to ask,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-hardin/fundamentalists-are-panicked-by-the-apparent-disintegration-of-the/) [Garrett Hardin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrett-hardin/) > [What happened in Kosovo was the exact reversal of what happened in 'Fortress Europe' in 1943-45. Let me explain. Air Marshall 'Bomber' Harris used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/what-happened-in-kosovo-was-the-exact-reversal-of-what-happened-in/) [Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/) > [ \[After her 18-day disappearance in 1974:\] I love my husband very, very much, but he didn't ask me when he ran for mayor and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-alioto/after-her-18-day-disappearance-in-1974-i-love-my-husband-very-very/) [Angela Alioto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-alioto/) > [“What is terror / but the disappearance of beauty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-rader/what-is-terror-but-the-disappearance-of-beauty/) [Dean Rader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-rader/) > [“My death will be the disappearance of a particular pattern in the water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/my-death-will-be-the-disappearance-of-a-particular-pattern-in-the/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > ['Without a Trace' analyzes criminal behavior in the special context of a disappearance. We consider it a suspense thriller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-tassler/without-a-trace-analyzes-criminal-behavior-in-the-special-context-of/) [Nina Tassler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-tassler/) > [The distinction between investment and speculation in common stocks has always been a useful one and its disappearance is cause for concern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-distinction-between-investment-and-speculation-in-common-stocks/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [The desert is a natural extension of the inner silence of the body. If humanity's language, technology, and buildings are an extension of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-desert-is-a-natural-extension-of-the-inner-silence-of-the-body-if/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [A garden is a complex of aesthetic and plastic intentions; and the plant is, to a landscape artist, not only a plant - rare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-burle-marx/a-garden-is-a-complex-of-aesthetic-and-plastic-intentions-and-the/) [Roberto Burle Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-burle-marx/) > [Freedom is the disappearance of that which is searching for freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adyashanti/freedom-is-the-disappearance-of-that-which-is-searching-for-freedom/) [Adyashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adyashanti/) > [Such silence has an actual sound, the sound of disappearance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/such-silence-has-an-actual-sound-the-sound-of-disappearance/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) [Browse all 148 Disappearance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappearance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peggy Phelan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/performance-s-being-becomes-itself-through-disappearance/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Disappearance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/performance-s-being-becomes-itself-through-disappearance/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32d/peggy-phelan-63169_disappearance_performance-s-being-becomes-itself-throu_2869183.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance.” — Peggy Phelan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Peggy Phelan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Performance's being...becomes itself through disappearance.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/performance-s-being-becomes-itself-through-disappearance/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/performance-s-being-becomes-itself-through-disappearance/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```