It was a real treat to finally see Laurie Anderson, live at the BAM with her latest piece Delusion.
Watching from a (far away) gallery seat she appeared like she had performed 'O Superman' or 'Mach 20' only yesterday. As if time in her personal cosmos never was of any relevance. The same (trademark) short hair, tie, smooth, cat-like movements, her familiar second personality - the sarcastic-electronic narration voice, her engagement with current affairs and human issues.
Delusion is an acoustic and poetic tale presented in short chapters. Sounds collected in Tibet, Arabic strings, a violin and a saxophone player behind two screens frame the minimal stage set. The audience appreciating the ‘built in’ humor featured in her keyboard-monologues that genuinely question why idioms like ‘get off my back’ have never been reversed into ‘get off my front’...or why nobody ever complains that one’s front hurts at all.
Sitting on a sofa covered in meditative visuals (reminiscent of 1980s stage use) Anderson intimately discusses the ownership of the moon, how the mother’s maiden name has become a code word used to log into your online banking; and catches those off guard who did not expect her show a somewhat difficult form of entertainment, in the most positive sense.
Delusion carried a note of a quiet retrospective of the artist’s personal live when telling about the familiarity of Iceland, exploring her Irish and Swedish roots in a kind of fairy tale. Not matter if tale or not, Laurie Anderson has long ago created and kept her superlative artistic truth.
Laurie Anderson at 2010 Next Wave Festival
http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2225
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