After her much acclaimed and publicised The artist is present (2010) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the godmother of performance art, Serbian-born Marina Abramović (1946), came back with a new work, a performance emphasizing the importance of ‘nothing’. Already much discussed, she performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London for the duration of the show, from 10 am to 6 pm, 6 days a week. A total of 512 hours. The performance was very simple, the only materials being Abramović herself, the audience and a small collection of objects used in a constantly changing sequence of events. As previously done in many of her works the audience became the performing body influencing the development and sequence of the performance. Unscripted she surrendered to improvisation, a more radical approach than six years ago in New York.

Since her MoMA exhibit Abramović is extremely hip. Unknown to a wider audience until a few years back, she has become an attraction. Abramović is a pioneer in performance art, using her own body as object ánd subject. She has pushed the physical but foremost the mental limits of her being. The Serpentine show draws upon this history of Abramović’s use of body as a basic tool in her artistry. Whether her performance will be daring and innovative is the question. Considering her recent popularity (think of her appearance in the video clip Picasso Baby of American rapper Jay-Z) today’s audience doesn’t really care. To be part of an Abramović performance is priceless and cool, whether it is good or bad. Thousands of people will be there to see, observe and be part of this new Abramović show. And unfortunately nobody would dare to criticize it.

A small riot has arisen prior to the upcoming show. A group of curators and art historians have complained about the fact that the Serpentine Gallery fails to acknowledge the influence of another female artist who has also made ‘nothing’ central to her work, the New York-based conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll. She has been working on a project called ‘Nothing’ since the 1990s. However neither Carroll nor Abramović are the first to use this notion, it has a long history as subject in art (think Yves Klein, John Cage or Gustav Metzger). The 512 hours of Abramović will not present anything new, perhaps only in a more radicalised and extreme form. Far from being revolutionary we could conclude in this regard that she won’t be able to transcend her pioneering work of the 1970s (often in partnership with Ulay). But, even with all this in mind, Abramović succeeds to trigger and arouse interest for her 512 hours of nothingness. She’s probably not for nothing the godmother of performance art. We will have to wait and see.

Marina Abramović – 512 hours

Serpentine Gallery, London

11 June – 25 August 2014