Laurie Anderson

by Roselee Goldberg

Laurie Anderson is one of the most acclaimed and innovative performance artists working today. This book, written by a leading authority on performance art, delivers a comprehensive look at Anderson's multifaceted career, from her performance pieces of the early 1970s to her 1999 electronic opera, Songs and Stories from Moby Dick. Filled with photographs of Anderson's performances, sculptures, books, installations, instruments, and inventions, stills from her films and videos, reproductions of her drawings and sketches, and including song lyrics and excerpts from many of her stories, the book vividly conjures up the artist's achievements. It also offers fresh insights into her pioneering multimedia pieces (such as United States and Stories from the Nerve Bible), her musical recordings (including the pop hit "O Superman"), and her provocative collaborations (with William Burroughs, Spalding Gray, and Lou Reed, among others). Prepared with Anderson's cooperation and participation, this book will be the ultimate gift for her many fans and will gain her many new ones. ROSELEE GOLDBERG is the author of Abrams' definitive books Performance From Futurism to the Present and Live Art Since 1960. The former curator of the Kitchen Center for Video, Music, and Performance in New York City, she contributes to Artforum and teaches at New York University. Goldberg lives with her family in New York City. 320 illustrations, 117 in full color, 203 in black and white, 9 7/8 x 9 7/8"

Genres: Music, Art, Biography, Nonfiction

204 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2000

Reviews

[Dan Gorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvelous anthology and discussion of Anderson's work. Author Roselee Goldberg situates Anderson in the same postmodern, critical milieu as Robert Longo and Cindy Sherman, artists who took their work out of traditional gallery spaces, questioned its assumptions, and playfully disassembled parts of pop culture, putting them back together in strange new forms. I would have liked some more analysis from the author, but this is partly a showcase for Anderson's work, not an academic book. Besides, too much analysis might detract from the free-associative structure, which throws Anderson's images and words into juxtaposition — much like one of Anderson's albums or live shows. In other words, too much structure might defeat the subject's purpose.

[Dorthe Svendsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lest fordi den neste på liste til future library var en jeg ikke kjente til, så tenkte denne kunne gi meg noe kunnskap. Skumlest en del, da teksten opplistet på denne måten treffer meg litt dårlig, men anser den som lest.

[Ben Houge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this years ago, and it was super disappointing, very poorly written, although it has some nice pictures.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was bailing dome friends out of jail several years ago in Camden, New Jersey. The city had seen fit to put the county jail and the public library right next to each other, and I walked in to look at books and found this one on the "for sale" shelf, brand new, for 50¢.

Camden's loss.

I blogged about this book a little bit on 31 Dreamers, and about how Laurie Anderson was my first celebrity crush. Her records alone don't do her justice. She is a total artist whose whole picture is made up of the many mediums she's worked with. Check it out.

[Clar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely essential for my honours dissertation. It has excellent descriptions of the technical as well as thematic and symbolic aspects of all of Anderson's productions up to the publication of the book.

[stevenallenmay · Rating 4 out of 5]

i would have given this a 5 star rating, except there were 35 typos in the book. No proof readers any more?

[brian thunder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic overview of one of the most important artists around today.