<A Lot of Sorrow> is a six-hour video installation, shown on a seemingly endless loop, by the Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson (*1976), which shows film material of his collaboration with the indie-rock band The National. On the 5th of May 2013 The National gave a nonstop rendition of the song <Sorrow> for a live audience at the MoMa PS1. The installation, like the performance at the MoMa, is minimalist: the band plays the same song over and over again. «Sorrow found me when I was young / Sorrow waited, sorrow won.» The listener dives head first into the melody, is carried along by emotions, gradually identifying the musicians' personalities and their interaction with each other: after more than 15 years the band members re-encounter one another through trust, respect and fun.
Ragnar Kjartansson represented Iceland at the Biennale in Venice in 2009, and had a major solo show at the Migros Museum in Zürich in 2012. He is a painter, sculptor and musician (member of the band Trabant), the latter of which will be put to the test on stage on the 06. & 07.11. together with an All-Star Band.
See also: ALL STAR BAND.
