# Laurie Anderson [Wikipedia Link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Anderson) ( 1947 – ) ## Description American multimedia performance artist known for combining processed and pitch-shifted voice, invented instruments (the tape-bow violin, the "talking stick"), projected imagery, and spoken-word storytelling — most famously in the surprise pop hit "O Superman" (1981) and the epic stage work *United States Live* (1983). ## Key Tags #performance #installation #the-kitchen #early-video #sound ## Essential Works - "O Superman" (1981) - breakout vocoder-processed single that unexpectedly charted in the UK top ten - *United States Live* (1983) - four-part, multi-hour multimedia performance combining music, spoken text, and projection ## Details Trained as a sculptor before moving into performance in the 1970s downtown New York scene (associated with The Kitchen), building self-invented electronic instruments to process her own voice and violin into a distinctive spoken/sung performance language that bridges avant-garde composition, pop music, and storytelling. ### Concepts and Theories %% none yet %% ### Creative and Technical Practices - [[Performance Art]] - major figure extending performance art into multimedia, voice-processed spoken-word form ### Collaborators %% none yet %% ### Institutional Affiliations and Associated Movements %% none yet %% ## References ### Primary Sources Bibliography Anderson, Laurie. *Stories from the Nerve Bible: A Retrospective 1972–1992*. HarperCollins, 1994. Anderson's own retrospective account of her performance work and methods. ### Secondary Sources Bibliography Goldberg, RoseLee. *Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present*. 3rd ed., Thames & Hudson, 2011. Standard performance-art history situating Anderson's multimedia practice within the field.