THE WORKS PRESENTS: LAURIE ANDERSON, Episode 2 of 8, Tuesday, February 7th at 11.10pm
In the second episode of the series, John meets Laurie Anderson who has crossed boundaries so effectively that she has become almost an institution of innovation. From breaking into the Top 40 pop-charts as a performance artist to serving as the first artist-in-residence at NASA, Anderson consistently engages worldwide audiences with experimental work.
Her 40-year career bucks classification, incorporating performance art, music, spoken word, video, and more. To mention John Zorn, Lou Reed, and Philip Glass only glosses her collaborations with the American avant-garde. She has also crossed over in interesting and unexpected ways, whether voicing a singing tot in The Rugrats Movie, or hitting #2 on the 1981 UK Singles Chart with “O Superman”.
Laurie describes herself as ‘just a storyteller. What I do is the world’s oldest art form’.
In conversation with John she talks about her own childhood which she has used to explore three major deaths in her life. Those of her husband Lou Reed, her own mother and her beloved rat terrier Lolabelle. The award winning documentary ‘The Heart of a Dog’ is visually stunning with wonderful poignant music and dreamlike use of graphics.
Discussion about this work give insight into Anderson’s own creativity and with her wry sense of humour she engages with John but with a great sense of fun and self-deprecation. Always highly challenging in her political art Laurie also shares her concerns about the recent changes in America and the consequences.