Laurie Anderson Online

 

Actor Nick Offerman selected Laurie Anderson's NPR Tiny Desk Concert in a recent top five list: 

"She is, for me, a cornerstone of panache and beautiful genius and she's a paragon of showmanship—or show-person-ship," he wrote. "It's complicated enough. It's simple enough. It's crazy enough. It's beautiful enough. It's stupid enough. Laurie, in your own puckish words, 'Thanks for all the presents.'"

The performance, which features two songs from her debut LP Big Science and a violin improvisation, can be viewed here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABjmQCxA7UU

In his praise Offerman is referring to a recent New York Times Magazine feature on Anderson, which is available on the Times podcast The Daily. Writer Sam Anderson conveys five questions Laurie had shared with him, "a sort of test that uses to figure out whether a piece that she's working on is good or not:

Is it complicated enough? 

Is it simple enough?

Is it crazy enough? 

Is it beautiful enough? 

Is it stupid enough?

Which are excellent questions to ask when you are making a work, or - maybe - doing just about anything. It reminds me of an exhibition at Plug-In in Winnipeg that I participated in, curated by Micah Lexier. The premise was based on a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Listen to the piece at the Times, here; 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/17/podcasts/the-daily/laurie-anderson.html

And, finally, the fourth of six Norton Lectures by Anderson is available for 24 hours, starting tomorrow. Virtual Backgrounds: Spending the War Without You: The Road is available from Wednesday November 3rd, at 5:00 dpm EDT to Thursday November 4th at 5:00pm EDT.

I'll admit it was my least favourite of the four so far (the first and third being the highlights) and glitching and synchronization issues caused me to bail part way through. But Anderson at her worst is better than most speakers at their best. Watch it here.