Jan 9, 2011

Laurie Anderson As Avant-Garde Pioneer?


"How come no one considers Laurie Anderson a later generation dub artist, or hip hop artist? In “O Superman”, she’s essentially rapping over loops. She also loves electronically processing her vocals, mixing in samples… Well, I think the answer’s simple: no one considers her as belonging to this lineage! Because dub and deejaying and hip hop aren’t perceived as having had any influence on early 1980s, white, experimental fine art!"

Big Other's blogger A D Jameson ponders on how Laurie Anderson managed to cross fine art with pop culture with the help of 'O Superman', questioning her being "one of America's most daring creative pioneers" by providing an extensive listing of her possible sources of inspiration (while acknowledging her indubitable contributions to culture as well). A enlightening read for an admittedly performance-art-ignorant like Mnemosyne (but still might be enjoyable for you, dear Readers; one can never know):