"Ethics is the Esthetics of the Future" - Lenin
December 17, 2019 4:34 PM Subscribe
"Songs for Lines/Songs for Waves" (1977), an early performance work by Laurie Anderson is on YouTube thanks to MinimalEffort. The performance showcases Laurie's work with film and tape manipulation, including her tape-bow violin, with compositions that would become parts of her landmark United States I-IV. The video also includes At the Shrink's (a fake hologram).
Also on the same YouTube channel, "Born Never Asked/It's Cold Outside" (1979/1981), orchestral works Laurie was commissioned to write. The pieces feature music, loops, and lyrics that would later form the basis for "O Superman", and other parts of United States I-IV. Finally, there's "Break It", the little-heard b-side to her single It's Not The Bullet That Kills You (It's The Hole)".
Also on the same YouTube channel, "Born Never Asked/It's Cold Outside" (1979/1981), orchestral works Laurie was commissioned to write. The pieces feature music, loops, and lyrics that would later form the basis for "O Superman", and other parts of United States I-IV. Finally, there's "Break It", the little-heard b-side to her single It's Not The Bullet That Kills You (It's The Hole)".
Laurie Anderson and her clone from Twin Cities Public TV show Alive from Off Center (offscreen interviewer is Spalding Gray.) More of this in What You Mean We?
posted by larrybob at 6:35 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by larrybob at 6:35 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
Great post, thank you. It's really fascinating and a great insight to see how much of her work is built by iterating and remixing a common set of ideas. Let X=X is probably one of my favorites of hers and it was a real treat to encounter its prototype in the linked Born Never Asked.
posted by wordless reply at 9:20 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by wordless reply at 9:20 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Rumors have persisted for decades of a filmed version of the BAM United States performance(s) stashed away in Laurie’s archives. This footage, and other recontextualizations from television and video over the years, may well be the closest we’ll ever come.
posted by mykescipark at 8:26 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by mykescipark at 8:26 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by rednikki at 4:52 PM on December 17, 2019