A biography for Laurie Andersonhasn’t been written yet.
“It's good to take a longer view and think, What would I really like to do if I had no limitations whatsoever?”
“The thing that's characteristic of my performance is that I literally do drag the whole studio onto the stage.”
“A lot of artists who have a certain style are expected to more or less keep doing their style. It's so easy to get into that rut of production.”
“I see and write things first as an artist, second as a woman, and third as a New Yorker. All three have built-in perspectives that aren't neutral.”
“I really like books that you can kind of hear as much as think about, that are so graphic and visual.”
“The world is a strange and wonderful place.”
“I so much appreciate it when anybody tries to make something and tries to be an artist - I'm happy to see the work.”
“Something that has so much power must have life. Instruments have life.”
“My work is more about trying to ask good questions and not trying to come up with big shows. Every fashion company is doing that, every car company is doing that.”
“As a New Yorker, I'm someone who lives on an island and looks across to America.”
“Paradise is exactly like where you are right now... only much, much better.”
“I'm an average enough person to point to the things I've gotten to see that are awe-inspiring.”
“I hate zoos.”
“People are really suffering these days. There's a lot of corporate triumph and a lot of personal despair as they wonder what are they working for.”
“I think women are excellent social critics.”
“One of the things I learned from working on the Olympics was, the world does not need another big multimedia show.”
“My job is to make images and leave the decision-making and conclusion-drawing to other people.”
“I don't take compliments so well. I always hang my head and shuffle and kind of try to immediately forget.”
“I've never really had a hobby, unless you count art, which the IRS once told me I had to declare as a hobby since I hadn't made money with it.”
“It's just such a great miracle when things do work, and they work for such a wild variety of crazy reasons.”