Overlapping Realities: or, Who the Hell Is the Body Artist and Why You Should Experience It

There exists a book titled 'The Body Artist',written by Don DeLillo. But what does this have to do with Files on a String?

• First, Laurie Anderson herself has got some inclinations for "body art" (see page 109 of the Nerve Bible: 'What Is Body Art?'), mentioning that, in the late '70s, her work was described as (among others) "body art" or "performance art"

• Amelia Jones writes about Laurie Anderson's body art at length in her book 'Body Art / Performing the Subject', page 32:

• The body artist in the book's title is named Lauren (Hartke). She lives in New York.

• Lauren tends to wear flanel shirts and likes to take long errant walks.

• In 'Body Time', Lauren's performance piece, there's an "anonymous robotic voice of a tele­phone answering machine delivering a standard announcement" featured prominently, as "sound accom­paniment".

• Moreover, during the performance above, Lauren dramatically alters her (body and) voice and ends up at speaking in a male voice.

• Laurie Anderson mentions the writer of the book, Don DeLillo in 'The Cultural Ambassador' (track 17 on 'The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories').

• Last but not least: in 2001, Laurie Anderson has recorded an unabridged audio version of the book*; it's entirely read by her; which means almost three hours** of pure treat for those who "would listen, enraptured, to Laurie Anderson read the phone book"***.

• UPDATE: one more thing - this just in: Laurie Anderson will read excerpts from Don Delillo's new book 'Point Omega' on the 14th of November, 2010, in Estoril, Portugalia.

* Mnemosyne has got her copy from Ebay. Good luck.

** "Three f*cking hours. Why not four? Why not seven? Why not eight? she says" - sorry, I could not resist this citation from 'The Body Artist' by Don DeLillo, page 107.

*** comment by an enthusiastic viewer named mytmyt, under the Youtube video of Laurie Anderson's part in 2004 Dramatic Reading of the U. S. Constitution. Amen.

Paul Klee, Free Association & 'Me'

It was August, summer of 82.
You had a rusty old car

And me

- I had nothing better to do.

We were goin' in circles.

And me

- I was just hanging on.

You did all the talking.

And me

- I didn't make a sound.

(1)

Weasel keeps hangin' on

Together forever

And me?

- I'm goin' in circles.

I've floated on an icecap with a white polar bear
I've floated up and down the golden stairs
I've seen whales and caught in sails all twiskeetwee

But me?

I don't say much.

(2)

It's your turn to walk along the runway road.

And me?

I sent my better self on ahead.

(3)

Some people know exactly where they're going
The pilgrims to Mecca
The climbers to the mountain top

But me,

I'm looking for just a single moment

So I can slip through time

(4)

1: Hot Pursuit / Paul Klee, 1939

2: Sinbad the Sailor / Paul Klee, 1923

3: Snake Paths / Paul Klee, 1934

4: Tightrope Walker / Paul Klee, 1923

Lyrics excerpts from
'Speechless (The Eagle and the Weasel)',
'The Island Where I Come From',
'One Beautiful Evening',
and 'Life on a String'
- all written by Laurie Anderson

Difficult Listening Hour: The Fifth Plague

Time for another pathetic attempt to puzzle out another hard-to-understand* lyrics by Laurie Anderson: The Fifth Plague (Death of Livestock). This cheering, upbeat song can be listened to online at the official website of the album it is included in: The Plague Songs (2006).

The Fifth Plague
(music and lyrics by Laurie Anderson)
(as heard by Mnemosyne)

Beasts of the field we stand
Somewhere between darkness and man
Part of the plan
Part of the proof of the fifth plague

Ah to die in a grove
On a spring day
Tipped over by god
Part of the proof
Part of the plan of the fifth plague

Not the glorious death of the sacred bull
But slaughtered and pitched 'bout rotten junk
into the land of the dead
Where mummified kings and queens wait
in the wrong heaven

Beasts of the field we stand
Somewhere between darkness and man
Part of the plan
Proof of the power of the fifth plague

Like the dying bull in the ring
Stuck by the picadors
The last sound he hears
In this dusty world
The howl of true trumpets
And the sound of applause
As the matador bowes

The Fifth Plague of Egypt / J. M. William Turner, 1800

* For the record again: this version of lyrics is based on Mnemosyne's pure speculation. Please keep my limited auditive comprehension skills in mind when reading the text. (By the way, any help / correction would be deeply appreciated.)

Kandinsky in Motion

We dig down in the ocean.
Swing up to the stars.
We own the moon and the earth.
We're masters of Mars.
We're bodies in motion.
We embody the spirit of motion.

(1)

Our ancestors cowered in caves
Afraid of the dark and the thunder.
Wrapped up in black magic and rage
They were slaves to their hunger

(2)

Now we fly across mountains in planes
We know all about time and big numbers.
We're bodies in motion.
We embody the spirit of motion.

(3)

I love you with all my heart.
You have my devotion.
I loved you from the start.
We're bodies in motion.
We embody the spirit of motion.

(4)

Ooo the weight of the world. Eternal spin.
Puts a dent in my shoulder.
A burn in my spin.
A burn in my spin.

(5)

Some say the future is crowds
fighting for water and space.
Chaotic and dark and loud,
everything used up and taken

(6)

But I say the future's within
the still point of the mind
Where we escape the bounds of earth
And break the bonds of time.

(7)

If somebody asked me to design a religion
I would make it all about snow.
No good or evil and no suffering.
Just perfect crystals spinning
In ecstasy
   ecstasy
     ecstasy
       ecstasy.

(8)

1: Transverse Line / Wassily Kandinsky, 1923

2: Heavy Circles / Wassily Kandinsky, 1927

3: Mild Tension / Wassily Kandinsky, 1923

4: Colourful Ensemble / Wassily Kandinsky, 1938

5: Upward / Wassily Kandinsky, 1929

6: Grouping / Wassily Kandinsky, 1937

7: Circles in a Circle / Wassily Kandinsky, 1923

8: Fixed Light / Wassily Kandinsky, 1932


Photo source: www.wassilykandinsky.net
'Bodies in Motion' lyrics by Laurie Anderson

Long Lost Rooms of Matisse

That blue day came and it stayed all night
Blue morning. Blue midnight.
The city fell and then you were gone.
What is love but a robin's song?

(1)

Ooo these days. These endless blue days.
They're perfect in their own way.
Perfect in their own way.

(2)

Ooo those days that come too soon.
Strange perfumes. Long lost rooms.
They're perfect in their own way.
Perfect in their own way.

(3)

Where does love go when love is gone?
To what war-torn city?
Ooo those blue days that stayed too long.
What is love but a robin's song?

(4)

1: Odalisque in Red Trousers / Henri Matisse, c. 1924-1925

2: The Red Room (Harmony in Red) / Henri Matisse, 1908

3: Seville Still Life / Henri Matisse, c. 1910-1911

4: My Room at the Beau-Rivage / Henri Matisse, 1918

Photo source: www.henri-matisse.net
'Strange Perfumes' lyrics by Laurie Anderson