Laurie Anderson
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Who is Laurie Anderson?
Laurie Anderson (born in Wayne, Illinois, June 5, 1947) is an American performance artist, composer, and writer whose work encompasses a remarkable range of media and subject matter.
Anderson studied classical violin and performed with the Chicago Youth Symphony before moving to New York City in 1966. Some of her performance art pieces include Automotive (1972) and Duets on Ice. To support her work, Anderson worked as a freelance interviewer and art critic for ARTnews and Artforum. In 2002–04, she served as NASA’s artist in residence, inspiring her one-woman show The End of the Moon, which debuted in 2004.
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What is Laurie Anderson known for?
Laurie Anderson is an American performance artist, composer, and writer known for her diverse and innovative work exploring a remarkable range of media and subject matter.
Anderson's notable works include "O Superman," which reached number two on England’s pop charts, and the multimedia extravaganza United States I–IV, combining music, film, and text. She has also released recordings such as Big Science and Mister Heartbreak. Anderson served as NASA’s artist in residence from 2002 to 2004 and collaborated with the Kronos Quartet on Landfall, which won a Grammy Award in 2018.
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What kinds of art does Laurie Anderson create?
Laurie Anderson is an American performance artist, composer, and writer whose work encompasses a remarkable range of media and subject matter.
Anderson's art includes performance pieces such as Automotive (1972) and Duets on Ice. Her work combines music, photography, film, drawings, and animation with text, as seen in United States I–IV. Anderson also produced the film Home of the Brave (1986) and collaborated on Set and Reset (1983) with visual artist Robert Rauschenberg and choreographer Trisha Brown. Additionally, she released albums such as Life on a String (2001) and Homeland (2010). Her visual work has been showcased in solo exhibitions, including "Laurie Anderson: The Weather" (2021).
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How does Laurie Anderson use technology in her performances?
Laurie Anderson is an American performance artist who incorporates technology in her performances. In Duets on Ice, an early performance art piece, Anderson used ice skates frozen in blocks of ice and an altered violin with prerecorded audiotape instead of bow hair and a tape head instead of strings.
Anderson's United States I–IV combined music, photography, film, drawings, and animation with text. In 1995, she created Puppet Motel, a complex interactive CD-ROM with designer Hsin-Chien Huang. Also, Anderson's tour in 1999, Songs and Stories from Moby Dick, was a multimedia musical event.
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What are some of Laurie Anderson’s most famous works?
Laurie Anderson is an American performance artist, composer, and writer whose work encompasses a remarkable range of media and subject matter.
Some of Anderson’s most famous works include:
* "O Superman" (1981), a song that reached number two on England’s pop charts
* United States I–IV, a four-part multimedia extravaganza that combined music, photography, film, drawings, and animation with text (1983)
* Home of the Brave, a film written, directed, and performed by Anderson (1986)
* Puppet Motel, a highly complex interactive CD-ROM (1995)
* Landfall, her collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, which won a Grammy Award (2018)1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has Laurie Anderson influenced performance art and other artists?
Laurie Anderson is an American performance artist known for her diverse work that incorporates a range of media and subject matter.
Anderson's early performance art pieces include Automotive (1972), for which she orchestrated car horns, and Duets on Ice, where she played a duet with herself on an altered violin while wearing ice skates frozen in blocks of ice.
Anderson's work often combines music, photography, film, drawings, and animation with text. For example, her massive four-part multimedia extravaganza, United States I–IV, combined various media and consisted of 78 segments organized into four sections: Transportation, Politics, Money, and Love. She also collaborated with visual artist Robert Rauschenberg and choreographer Trisha Brown on Set and Reset (1983).
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Laurie Anderson (born June 5, 1947, Wayne, Illinois, U.S.) is an American performance artist, composer, and writer whose work explores a remarkable range of media and subject matter.
Anderson began studying classical violin at five years of age and later performed with the Chicago Youth Symphony. In 1966 she moved to New York City, where she attended Barnard College (B.A., 1969) and Columbia University (M.F.A., 1972). For two years she taught art history at the City University of New York.
One of Anderson’s early performance art pieces was Automotive (1972), for which she orchestrated car horns at the Town Green in Rochester, Vermont. In Duets on Ice, another early piece, Anderson wore ice skates frozen in blocks of ice; she then proceeded to play a duet with herself on an altered violin that she described as like a “ventriloquist’s dummy”—she replaced the bow hair with prerecorded audiotape and the strings with a tape head. The piece ended as soon as the ice melted.
To support her work in performance art, Anderson worked as a freelance interviewer and art critic for ARTnews and Artforum. By 1974 she had received several grants that gave her more freedom to pursue her artistic explorations. She came to rely on a driving rock beat as a backdrop to many of her word-oriented pieces; this led to a musical single, “It’s Not the Bullet That Kills You—It’s the Hole” (1977). Another song, the eight-minute “O Superman” (1981), reached the number two spot on England’s pop charts. She released the recordings You’re the Guy I Want to Share My Money With (1981), Big Science (1982), and Mister Heartbreak (1984) before producing a massive four-part multimedia extravaganza, United States I–IV. It combined music, photography, film, drawings, and animation with text and consisted of 78 segments organized into four sections: Transportation, Politics, Money, and Love. First performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1983, it ran for more than six hours and employed more than 1,200 photos, cartoons, and films. She used some of the same material again in writing, directing, and performing in the film Home of the Brave (1986). Anderson collaborated on Set and Reset (1983) with visual artist Robert Rauschenberg and choreographer Trisha Brown, whose dance company premiered the piece. Anderson’s later recordings included Strange Angels (1989), Bright Red (1994), and The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories (1995).
In 1994 a book of her work was published entitled Stories from the Nerve Bible: A Retrospective, 1972–92. A year later Anderson embarked on a multimedia tour entitled The Nerve Bible, in which she read excerpts from the retrospective book and incorporated elements of music, comedy, illusion, dance, film, songs, and a simulated tornado into her performance. In 1995 she crafted, with designer Hsin-Chien Huang, the highly complex interactive CD-ROM Puppet Motel (1995). Anderson next toured in 1999 with Songs and Stories from Moby Dick, a multimedia musical event. She later served as NASA’s artist in residence (2002–04), and the experience inspired her one-woman show The End of the Moon, which debuted in 2004.
Anderson’s other projects included The Waters Reglitterized (2005), an installation inspired by her dreams, and the albums Life on a String (2001) and Homeland (2010). In 2018 her collaboration with the Kronos Quartet on Landfall, inspired by Hurricane Sandy, won a Grammy Award for best chamber music/small ensemble performance. In addition, Anderson collaborated on the opening ceremony for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Her visual work was frequently exhibited in solo shows, including “Laurie Anderson: The Weather” (2021) at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Anderson was in a relationship with musician Lou Reed; they were married from 2008 until his death in 2013.
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