Laurie Anderson

          After watching a performance by Laurie Anderson in class called "O Superman," (which reached number 2 on UKs billboard charts) I could tell she was not the typical MTV performer.  She completely questioned the traditional performance.  She has even invented objects for her productions, including a tape bow violin talking stick.  I recently watched a video called "Lost Art of Conversation" on her website, it was extremely interesting  because conversation is not what it used to be, especially with the rise of technology people cannot even communicate without their cell phones or computers!

        
           She grew up in a small town in Illinois called Glen Ellyn, and graduated from Columbia University with a MFA in sculpture.  In the 1970s while she was illustrating children's books, she also started to perform in New York. One of her earlier, more notorious performances involved her playing the violin ice skating on a frozen block of ice.  She has recorded 7 albums and this year released her new album Homeland.  

                  In the early 1990s she also created multiple different public service announcements,  that ranged from national debt to lunch menus   In her lunch menu public service announcement she says in the beginning she does not watch television and then talks about how lunch menus came on t.v. for high schools at 6am.  She talks about the music that went along with the menu, and then ends it by saying it "this is television at its best."  I interpreted it as totally poking fun at television and loved it.  I really like her personality in all of the clips I watched from her.
         Her most recent album was produced by her and husband Lou Reed, rock musician from Velvet Underground.  She used her voice filter invention in her new songs.  The songs touch up on issues such as foreign policy, torture, the economy, religion and more controversial topics.  The musically talented couple will be curating a month of programming at "The Stone" in February.  The Stone is a non-profit space dedicated to performance and experimental music.