The famous Serbian conceptual artist will take to the Pyramid Stage tonight for seven minutes of silence. Why? And can she pull it off? Glastonbury has hosted some of the loudest rock bands in the world and is known for its rowdy crowds and high jinks. What could be bolder than asking for silence at an event of this scale? Marina Abramović, the acclaimed performance artist who has dedicated her life to pushing the boundaries of conceptual art, is about to stage her largest-ever participatory work at Worthy Farm this evening.
At 17:55 GMT, just before PJ Harvey’s set, the 77-year-old Serbian artist will take to the Pyramid Stage for seven minutes of silence. Hardly out of step for an artist who has done naked stand-ins, laid in the centre of a burning wooden star, and stood motionless while an audience was encouraged to use objects on her ranging from a rose to scalpels, nails, and even a loaded gun. Still, asking up to 200,000 music fans to keep schtum for a short period of reflection is impressive.
“Silence is a powerful tool that allows us to connect with ourselves and each other in ways words cannot,” says Abramović. “I don’t know any visual artists who have done something like this in front of 175,000 to 200,000 people,” says Abramović. “The largest audience I ever had was 6,000 people in a stadium and I was thinking ‘wow’, but this is really beyond anything I’ve done.
” Abramović is calling the piece “Seven Minutes of Collective Silence” .