Arthur Cravan, the enigmatic figure known for being a poet, boxer, fraudster, and draft-dodger, was also rumoured to be the inventor of performance art. Born Fabian Lloyd, he delighted in baffling expectations and spinning wild tales, once even promising to commit suicide during a public lecture. His antics captured the admiration of figures like André Breton and Guy Debord. He founded his own provocative magazine, ‘Maintenant’, and became a boxing champion without throwing a punch. Despite his mysterious disappearance in 1918 while sailing alone in the Pacific, Cravan’s life story itself became a work of art embodying defiance, unreason, and the essence of Dadaism.
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/missing-pieces/arthur-cravan-disappearing-dadaist