The Record of That Time

Rick Liss' stop-motion video of New York City's streets from the first half of the 1980s; soundtrack by Laurie Anderson ('For Electronic Dogs'):

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):

• Why I Hate the Avant-Garde by A D Jameson

Just because it was there

Laurie Anderson on Canal Street near her studio on a chilly day sometime in the 80s.

Photo by Allan Tannenbaum