18 October 2008
Laurie Anderson - Homeland
8pm @ The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (777 Homer Street)
$45 - $65 (plus taxes & service charges); Tickets at www.ticketmaster.ca 604-280-3311 & at all Ticketmaster Outlets

“Homeland reinforces Anderson's place as the best interpreter of our troubled times.”—Variety

Laurie Anderson’s new work Homeland presents the vast landscape that is contemporary American culture through the lens of one of the world’s foremost and critically acclaimed artists. The piece—part political dialogue, part poetry song cycle combining words, electronics, music and songs performed with a band of ace NY musicians and special guests  — has received critical praise from The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, The Times of London and others following Anderson’s recent tour of concert halls and theatres across the globe. In August, Anderson returned to the road for more performances, beginning August 27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina – and coming to The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts on October 18th for one night only.

The foundations of Homeland were created on the road through a series of performances and improvisations at venues ranging from small clubs to an ancient theatre on the Acropolis in Athens. The piece draws on an array of influences collected along the way—Tuvan throat singers, jazz improvisers and contemporary electronica artists contribute voices to what has become one of Anderson’s most political works to date. Her recent sonic experiments with the violin, along with groove-oriented electronics and traditional instruments such as the Chinese erhu, shape the piece as well. Homeland is as much a process as it is a statement, as each version is unique.
The themes Anderson explores with Homeland cover a breadth of contemporary issues, from the war and the media to America’s growing surveillance culture and the environment. In 2004, while making a film commissioned for the World Expo in Japan, Anderson began to contemplate the meaning of place via the short stories she was using in the work. One of the stories touched on losing things, or the feelingof losing things. “‘I knew I had lost something but I just couldn’t put my finger on it,’ was one of the lines in the story,” Anderson explains. “Like when you feel bereft and you don’t know whether it’s because you lost your keys or your job or because your grandfather just died,” she continues. “But I started to think about when I wrote that story and I remembered that it was when we began the invasion of Iraq. And what I’d lost was my country.” Anderson applies that notion to Homeland’s thematic threads.

Laurie plays the violin and keyboards, and is joined by New York musicians Peter Scherer on keys, Skuli Sverrisson on bass and guitar and the amazing Eyvind Kang on viola. Guest cellist Okkyung Lee, who has performed with John Zorn among many others, joins the band on the West Coast leg of the tour. 

Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned—and daring—creative pioneers. Her work, which encompasses music, visual art, poetry, film and photography, has challenged and delighted audiences around the world for more than 30 years. Anderson is best known for her multimedia presentations and musical recordings. Anderson’s first album, O Superman, launched her recording career in 1980, rising tonumber two on the British pop charts and subsequently appearing on her landmark release Big Science. She went on to record six more albums with Warner Brothers, and the international tour of Homeland precedes a 2009 Nonesuch Records release.

As the Globe and Mail said: “Anderson pretty much the only pop celebrity ever to emerge fully formed from New York avant-garde performance art scene - aside, perhaps, from Lou Reed of the Warhol Factory and the Velvet Underground, which is explanation enough of their long personal partnership. (They were married in April after more than a decade living together).”

She has numerous major works to her credit, along with countless collaborations with an array of artists, from Jonathan Demme and Brian Eno to Bill T. Jones and Peter Gabriel. Anderson is recognized worldwide as a groundbreaking leader in the use of technology in the arts: she was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA in 2002. Anderson was also part of the team that created the opening ceremony for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. More recently, she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts.

From pop culture underground pioneer to an icon of progressive and daring performance art, Laurie Anderson has been celebrated for her uncanny ability to illuminate underlying messages and meanings in the discourse of contemporary culture. In the midst of our southern neighbours’ debate over the future direction of their country, and our own discussions here, we eagerly anticipate what this inspired and insightful artist has to say!

www.laurieanderson.com

Anderson’s Vancouver performance is sponsored by the Georgia Straight