Lolabelle in still from Heart of a Dog. Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, & Lolabelle.
JUST CONFIRMED (1/7/16): By popular demand and by special arrangement with Laurie's distributor, Hallwalls will present the Buffalo premiere and only big-screen showings locally of musician, performer, and writer Laurie Anderson's acclaimed 2015 film of Heart of a Dog, at least three months before it airs on HBO, which (even for those of us who have HBO) won't happen until at least May. The film will have no commercial release in Buffalo, so this is your first chance to see it in any form, and only chance to see it on a big screen, in HD, and communally. We will screen it on three consecutive nights at the beginning of February.
"The boundaries between film, art, music, and performance have all been resolutely tested by Laurie Anderson during her four decade long career. Originally obtaining a degree in sculpture, Anderson went on to define the look, sound, and feel of New York's late '70s/'80s underground art scene with performance works such as Duets On Ice, albums like Big Science and Mister Heartbreak, and collaborations with everyone from William S. Burroughs to John Giorno to Robert Wilson. But it's safe to say that, although perhaps better known as a musician—in particular for her surprise UK number two hit, 'O Superman' in 1981—film has always held a central place in her work. A contributor to and composer of countless soundtracks, from Swimming To Cambodia to The Rugrats Movie, she has also directed a concert film, Home Of The Brave, a short, What You Mean We? and, most recently—following the death of her husband, Lou Reed—[this] moving meditation on mortality, Heart Of A Dog."
~ Mat Colegate, The Quietus, 22 January 2016
Laurie Anderson first performed her original work Suspended Sentences at the original Hallwalls at 30 Essex Street on November 12, 1978, as a benefit for Hallwalls. While working as Hallwalls' literary curator, Anne Turyn published Anderson's chapbook Words in Reverse as part of her Top Stories series, also in 1978. We brought Laurie back for Hallwalls' 20th anniversary to perform her large-scale multimedia work The Nerve Bible on the Main Stage at UB Center for the Arts on March 19, 1995.
Before and after each screening of Heart of a Dog, on the flat-screen TV in the lobby outside the Cinema, we will playing our conserved and digitized video documentation of Laurie Anderson's November 12, 1978 performance at Hallwalls.
Buy tickets for Thursday 2/4/16.
