Saw Laurie Anderson last night.
Was very great show... only down parts were the bits when she mentioned terrorism/ war stuff, not because I disagree with her views per se, but rather 1) it's more mundane that what else she has to say, topics which are much more imaginative, 2) I hear about goddamned terrorism/ war all the time on Fox News radio at work (site supervisor's, not my, choice).
paraphrased excerpts:
"Life is like bad art. People come and go, then show up again, randomly... people die for no good reason... all the script writers are up all night, they never stop.... like those buses at night, going on their routes without any passengers.... on automatic."
"Your subconscous brain is trying to talk to you all the time. But it doesn't know how...it doesn't know what words are... so it shows you pictures, at night... 'Here's a boot.... what does that remind you of?'"
the show stems partially from a recent odd opportunity that came up for her. She discussed how it happened:
"It started with a bad day. I was sitting in my studio, feeling sorry for myself, when the phone rang. A man told me he was calling from NASA, and that they had chosen me to be their first artist-in-residence. I said, 'Yeah, right; you're not from NASA!' and hung up. I figured it was just a fan of mine, who'd figured out what my greatest dream was, and was trying to torture me.
Five minutes later, the same man called again. I got a number at NASA to call and confirm it, and it was true. So, I asked them, 'Well... what does an artist-in-residence at NASA do, exactly?' and they said, 'Well, we don't know; we were kind of hoping you'd tell us.'"
you can see a tiny bit of what I saw at her site:
http://www.laurieanderson.com/public/mov/eotm_video.html
She did this bit verbatim. She creates all the music herself the whole show, with loops n effects, on violin and synth.
Was very great show... only down parts were the bits when she mentioned terrorism/ war stuff, not because I disagree with her views per se, but rather 1) it's more mundane that what else she has to say, topics which are much more imaginative, 2) I hear about goddamned terrorism/ war all the time on Fox News radio at work (site supervisor's, not my, choice).
paraphrased excerpts:
"Life is like bad art. People come and go, then show up again, randomly... people die for no good reason... all the script writers are up all night, they never stop.... like those buses at night, going on their routes without any passengers.... on automatic."
"Your subconscous brain is trying to talk to you all the time. But it doesn't know how...it doesn't know what words are... so it shows you pictures, at night... 'Here's a boot.... what does that remind you of?'"
the show stems partially from a recent odd opportunity that came up for her. She discussed how it happened:
"It started with a bad day. I was sitting in my studio, feeling sorry for myself, when the phone rang. A man told me he was calling from NASA, and that they had chosen me to be their first artist-in-residence. I said, 'Yeah, right; you're not from NASA!' and hung up. I figured it was just a fan of mine, who'd figured out what my greatest dream was, and was trying to torture me.
Five minutes later, the same man called again. I got a number at NASA to call and confirm it, and it was true. So, I asked them, 'Well... what does an artist-in-residence at NASA do, exactly?' and they said, 'Well, we don't know; we were kind of hoping you'd tell us.'"
you can see a tiny bit of what I saw at her site:
http://www.laurieanderson.com/public/mov/eotm_video.html
She did this bit verbatim. She creates all the music herself the whole show, with loops n effects, on violin and synth.
VIEW 9 of 9 COMMENTS
nocontrol:
Is that the blue screen of death?
stiles:
Thanks for the update.