The National to perform one song for six hours straight in the name of art

By Marah Eakin  |  April 24, 2013 | 9:10pm
Aux Features Music
The National to perform one song for six hours straight in the name of art

The National (the members of which Obama may or may not think are members of the baseball team The Washington Nationals) is set to perform its longest show ever. The Brooklyn-based group will perform just one track, High Violet’s “Sorrow,” for six straight hours at MoMA’s PS1 facility May 5.

The set is part of an original work dreamed up by Icelandic artist Ragnar “Lothbrok” Kjartansson. According to a statement about the piece, titled A Lot Of Sorrow, on the museum’s site, Kjartansson says he believes that “by stretching a single pop song into a day-long tour de force,” he can further explore “the potential of repetitive performance to produce sculptural presence within sound.” Tickets for the performance cost $15 and are on sale now.

For anyone interested in hearing more than just that one National song, the group’s new record, Trouble Will Find Me, is due out May 21 on 4AD. It features Sufjan Stevens, St. Vincent’s Annie Clark, and Sharon Van Etten, and is available for pre-order.

 
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