Sound Artist: Laurie Anderson

Biography

Originally named Laura Phillips Anderson, was born on June 5^th, 1947 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She’s an American experimental performance artist and musician. She plays the violin and keyboard and sings in numerous experimental music and art rock styles. However, Laura originally trained as a sculptor and did her first performance – art piece in the late 1960s. During 1981, Laura became widely known for her single “O Superman” which reached number two on the UK pop charts. Furthermore, she directed and starred in the 1986 concert film “Home of the Brave”.

Influences

A lot of Laura’s work displays memories of her loved ones, or work from previous singers/musicians. However, one of her influences was Nico, a European model and an all-around rock enthusiast. Another influence to her was Yoko Ono, who was a Japanese college drop – out that was involved with conceptual art pieces. Furthermore, a few years ago, Laura did a piece which recalled the death of her beloved father.

Description of their work

“Mystery, melodrama, and humor … central qualities of Anderson’s art”, was how Ken Johnson of the New York Times described Anderson’s work. Sarah Kenton wrote “the accumulation of words and images is intoxicating” in Time Out of Anderson’s exhibition, “you absorb the message without realizing that it is full of profundities disguised as humorous asides.” Anderson believes her work displays escapism, in which a body wanders off to be somewhere else. She defines escapism as, “imagining a body to be somewhere else. Music reminds you about your body, but it also takes you out of it. All art is a form of escape, but music is in particular.”

Similarity between other artists

One of the biggest similarities between Laura and other artists is that, they all express their emotions and thoughts hoping for their audience to find familiarity. Before a show, Anderson would light the audience so she can get a clear view of their expressions. Similarly, every artist desires to see the impact of their work on a person. Furthermore, her work resembles the political and social criticism of everyday life and a few on her personal life experiences. Every artist has a central theme that they reflect on their work. Majority of the artists central theme revolves around their surroundings and just like them, Anderson too does the same.

Difference between other artists

All of Anderson’s musical instruments are self – designed which is equipped with the state – of – the – art electronic technology through the use of Vocoders to transform her voice. Furthermore, as many other artists express themselves through songs, Anderson does her live performance shows through spoken stories accompanied by self – designed musical instruments which merges sounds, conventional and electronic instruments, as well as light show, costumes, and film or photographic images.

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