512 Hours

Seven years after her acclaimed MoMA retrospective, Abramović decided to test her own emotional limit and that of her audience in what she described as the most radical durational performance she’d ever attempted. However, when “512 Hours”, finally opened at the Serpentine Galleries in London, something unexpected even to her happened; a social experiment of human connectivity emerged, exposing a cast of participants to dramatic depths of human emotion and empathy.

Our documentary examines an unprecedented moment in performance art history, as Abramović provokes a group of 21st century gallery visitors to part ways with their personal belongings (primarily time-keeping devices and means of communication with the outside world), strip away their digital avatars and connect with the others around them. The gallery became a time-out from everything that consumes us in our day-to-day existence. A place to stop, find silence and challenge ourselves. A space in which both audiences and artist can confront who they are and why.

Production notes