David Rokeby links Laurie Anderson at Koerner April 5 with Eve Egoyan at George Weston May 9
Anderson, April 5
On April 5th, Koerner Hall and the 21C Music Festival welcomed back Laurie Anderson, a return visit that skillfully wove together pieces spanning the many decades of her career, while offering a glimpse into future possibilities that AI technology offers. The evening began with From the Air, a track from her 1982 album Big Science, with Anderson's evocative voice delivering instructions as an airplane pilot guiding passengers through a crash landing. This piece set a tone: we were in for a ride with wild bumps along the way. Early on, Anderson shared an anecdote about Yoko Ono's response to Donald Trump's election in 2016, a tweet of a long, extended scream. She invited everyone to join her in a ten-second collective scream for whatever issues weighed on our minds: wars, genocides, climate collapse. Another reminder of life’s fragilities and contradictions came with her performance of one of my favourites: O Superman, also from the Big Science album. The piece contrasts being held in a mother’s arms with other types of arms—military and petrochemical arms, performed while multi-shaped hand silhouettes flashed on the screen.