Laurie Anderson Screens 'Heart of a Dog' at Parrish
The Parrish Art Museum is presenting multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson’s 75-minute feature film, Heart of a Dog, (2015), this Friday, January 8 at 6 p.m.
Centered on Anderson’s beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, who died in 2011, Heart of a Dog is a personal essay that weaves together childhood memories, video diaries, philosophical musings on data collection, surveillance culture and the Buddhist conception of the afterlife, with heartfelt tributes to the artists, writers, musicians and thinkers who inspire her. The artist, who was a juror for the 2013 Artists Choose Artists exhibition at the Parrish and whose work was on view, will attend the screening.
“Laurie Anderson is one of the great storytellers of our time,” Andrea Grover, Century Arts Foundation Curator of Special Projects at the Parrish, said. “As a multidisciplinary artist working in music, performance, drawings, paintings and film, Anderson has a special gift for interweaving narratives that span from the universal to the deeply personal.”
Fusing her own insightful, inquisitive narration with original violin compositions, hand-drawn animation, 8mm home movies and artwork culled from exhibitions past and present, Anderson creates a hypnotic, collage-like visual language out of the raw materials of her life and art, examining how stories are constructed and told. Heart of a Dog has been shown at the Telluride, Venice and Toronto Film Festivals to critical praise, and was screened at the New York Film Festival in October 2015.
In addition to Anderson’s thoughtful narration, Heart of a Dog includes excerpts from several of her musical works—”The Lake” and “Flow” from Homeland (2010), “Beautiful Pea Green Boat” from Bright Red (1994), “Rhumba Club” from Life on a String (2001) and excerpts from Landfall (2011) with Kronos Quartet. The film’s closing song, “Turning Time Around,” was written and performed by Anderson’s late husband, Lou Reed, and the soundtrack, including all music and spoken text, is available from Nonesuch Records.
Laurie Anderson emerged in downtown New York in the 1970s and over the course of 30 years she has distinguished herself as a multifaceted artist addressing life, politics, social issues and technology through her use of spoken word and storytelling, projected film and video, photography, graphics, sculpture and electronic and instrumental music. Anderson has collaborated with artists including Jonathan Demme, Brian Eno, Bill T. Jones and Peter Gabriel.
The Parrish Art Museum is located at 279 Montauk Highway in Water Mill. Call 631-283-2118 or visit parrishart.org for more info.