Laurie Anderson and the "Heart of a Dog"

[caption id="attachment_54294" align="alignnone" width="800"] Laurie Anderson.[/caption]

By Dawn Watson

Springs-based artist, composer, musician and film director Laurie Anderson is the focus of two big events here on the East End this week. On Thursday, August 11, she will screen her acclaimed documentary, “Heart of a Dog,” at Guild in East Hampton at 8 p.m. And on Saturday, August 13, she will perform her extraordinary and unique Concert for Dogs (and their human companions) at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton at 5 p.m.

I have to admit that I haven’t seen the film yet but I read in my research that your dog, Lolabelle, whom I met at LongHouse many years ago with you and your husband [Lou Reed], is in it and is the inspiration for the film, which is cool. I also read that she actually learned to play the piano and that’s in “Heart of a Dog.” Is that true?  

Yes. It’s true. A dog trainer recommended it after she went blind, as therapy, to keep her connected to the world. She loved it. I think it saved her life.

I know she passed a few years ago. Is the Concert for Dogs an homage to her of sorts?

Absolutely. Her spirit lives everywhere. I think of her every day. And also especially of Lou. He’s totally inspiring. I’m not the composer who is looking at their portraits while playing the piano, but I do think of them and they do influence me and what I do.

I also read that the thought for Concert for Dogs came about because of a conversation you had with Yo-Yo Ma. Is that correct? Can you tell me how that came to happen?

That is true. We were both at RISD giving commencement speeches. It was really hot and really boring in that way that only graduation ceremonies can be. I was feeling guilty telling all these young artists that they were going to be fine, wiping out their student loans any second. I felt like such a fraud. It was terrible. Anyway, Yo-Yo was there as well and we started having this dazed conversation that you can only really have when you’re really hot and really bored. I said, ‘I have this fantasy of looking out at an audience one day and seeing that everyone watching me is a dog.’ He said, ‘I have that same fantasy,’ which we both agreed was totally weird. So we decided that whoever gets the chance to do it first invites the other.

Has he come to any of your Concerts for Dogs?

No. But he has a schedule that’s a bit more complicated than mine …

It’s a Concert for Dogs but can humans come too even if they don’t have a pet?

You don’t need a dog to come. It’s a really nice and short concert. Short is the type of concert that I often appreciate the most. Plus it’s outside. There’s something special about listening to music out of doors.

You’ve done this concert a few times—at Times Square this past winter, on the “Colbert” show, at the Sydney Opera House in Australia and at the Brighton Festival in England. How do you think the dogs will respond at LongHouse?

I have no idea. That’s the excitement of doing live shows. The dogs are generally very well behaved and attentive—I think they are so stunned that anyone is inviting them to a concert. They’re probably thinking, ‘Wait, this isn’t the dog run.’

We did have one dog fight in Brighton though. The owners were terribly embarrassed. You know how Brits love their dogs. They brought all these really amazing beautiful creatures, so many I’ve never seen before, like the Noah’s Ark of canines. Luckily, the fight was over quickly. It was like really nasty soccer fans having it out. One dog was like, ‘fuck you.’ Then another one across the theater was like, ‘no, fuck you.’ But the people stepped in and managed it so it blew over and then we got back on with it.

Aside from that, how is playing for dogs different than for humans?

Dogs pay attention in a way that humans don’t. I find that really exciting. Dogs live in the present. Humans don’t. People tend to make up their minds if they like something or not in the first three minutes and are unable to change their minds. Dogs live in the less judgmental realm. They are all ears and all eyes.

How can you tell if they like it?

I can’t tell whether people like it or not either, in the end. But I think they are enjoying it. They’re not looking around at each other or at their cell phones, or asking each other ‘What are you wearing?’ They’re cocking their heads and listening with faces that are relaxed and open.

You’re playing this concert, with Rubin Kodheli. What’s on the program?

It’s all going to be improv stuff, which is really exciting, and it keeps the audience in the here and now. The musicians are able to be really in the present as well when they are not playing a score. Dogs are an ideal audience for that.

Did you ever think this whole dog concert thing would take off?

No I didn’t. I was a little sheepish about it in the beginning actually. It’s super twee. But I don’t actually care anymore it’s so twee, I’m just glad that it’s fun.

Tickets to the screening of “Heart of a Dog” at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Thursday, August 11, are $14. For reservations, visit www.guildhall.org. Tickets to the Concert for Dogs at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton on Saturday, August 13, range from $100 to $500. For reservations, visit www.longhouse.org.