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An excerpt from Animal Stories, a public lecture by Laurie Anderson on October 13, 2011 at The Fabric Workshop and Museum. Laurie Anderson at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, October 2011.  Photo by Carlos Avendaño Laurie Anderson, All Things Fractured: Lola in the Night Sky, 2011. Aluminum and light. 8’ x 14’. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Lou Reed. Laurie Anderson, Lolabelle in the Bardo (detail), 2011. Charcoal on paper. From series of ten 10’ 4” x 14’ 4” drawings. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Carlos Avendaño Laurie Anderson at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, October 2011. Still from video by Greg Gagnon Laurie Anderson, The Sweetness of Music, 2011. Mud, clay, and ashes. 23" x 8" x 3", 7lb 12oz. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Carlos Avendaño Laurie Anderson, Iron Mountain (detail), 2011. Video projections on clay. Dimensions variable. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Carlos Avendaño.   According to the artist, " I’m happy to say that it’s virtually impossible to photograph this piece. For me, it
An excerpt from Animal Stories, a public lecture by Laurie Anderson on October 13, 2011 at The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
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Laurie Anderson at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, October 2011.  Photo by Carlos Avendaño
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Laurie Anderson, All Things Fractured: Lola in the Night Sky, 2011. Aluminum and light. 8’ x 14’. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Lou Reed.
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Laurie Anderson, Lolabelle in the Bardo (detail), 2011. Charcoal on paper. From series of ten 10’ 4” x 14’ 4” drawings. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Carlos Avendaño
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Laurie Anderson at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, October 2011. Still from video by Greg Gagnon
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Laurie Anderson, The Sweetness of Music, 2011. Mud, clay, and ashes. 23" x 8" x 3", 7lb 12oz. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Carlos Avendaño
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Laurie Anderson, Iron Mountain (detail), 2011. Video projections on clay. Dimensions variable. © Laurie Anderson. Photo by Carlos Avendaño.
 
According to the artist, " I’m happy to say that it’s virtually impossible to photograph this piece. For me, it's proof that certain art just has to be experienced with the body."
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Laurie Anderson:

Forty-Nine Days in the Bardo

September 20, 2011–November 19, 2011

Opening Reception:
Thursday, 13 October 2011, 6pm

Performance and Reception:
Animal Stories: Performance/Lecture by Laurie Anderson
Thursday, 13 October 2011, 7pm
 

Forty-Nine Days in the Bardo is a new, multimedia body of work by internationally renowned performance artist Laurie Anderson, which makes its debut at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM). Using the structure of a diary and The Tibetan Book of the Dead—also known as The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo—this exhibition explores the themes of love and death, the many levels of dreaming, and illusion. The installations include texts as well as drawings, sculptures, projections, and sound and are made from materials including mud, foil, iron, chalk, and ashes.
 
"In The Tibetan Book of the Dead, also known as The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo, the bardo is described as the forty-nine day period between death and rebirth. The book is a detailed description of the way the mind dissolves and what the spirit experi­ences in this transition. In April 2011, Lolabelle, my small rat terrier died after a long illness. For twelve years she had been my constant and faithful companion. Counting the forty-nine days from Lolabelle’s death I realized according to The Tibetan Book of the Dead Lolabelle would be reborn on June 5, my birthday."
— Laurie Anderson


Bio
Born in 1947, Chicago, IL
Recognized as a seminal artist of our time, Laurie Anderson emerged in downtown New York in the 1970s—a period of expression in opposition to political, economical, and social conventions—performing and exhibiting her works in alternative art settings. Over the course of thirty years, Anderson has distinguished herself as a multifaceted artist, who addresses life, politics, social issues, and technology through her use of spoken word and storytelling. In her theatrical performance, she integrates projected film and video, photography, graphics, sculpture, and electronic and instrumental music.