The data clouds break. Systems are failing. We are on our own. What now?
Laurie Anderson was born in Chicago in June 1947, the same time and place that atomic scientists began the Doomsday clock’s countdown to the midnight of nuclear destruction.
Fast forward to our own time and the multiple countdowns that now engulf us. Climate collapse, environmental disaster, and the proliferation of artificial intelligence have all added to a sense of isolation and powerlessness as we retreat further online.
We’ve made the flood, but can we build an ark?
Deploying imagination and humour in the face of calamity, ARK throws fresh light on dark times to explore where we go from here.
Best known for her multimedia performances and poetic use of technology, Laurie Anderson is one of the world’s most pioneering creative artists. As a writer, director, visual artist and composer, she’s created work that spans the worlds of art, theatre, film and music, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Grammys.
Her work has been presented all over the world with recent solo exhibitions in Stockholm, Montreal, Adelaide and at Washington D.C.’s iconic Smithsonian. Closer to home, Anderson presented To the Moon at MIF19 with Hsin-Chien Huang and in 2017, she broke ground at Aviva Studios.
In the early 1980s, Anderson created the unprecedented multimedia epic United States Parts 1–4. In 2024, the year of a momentous US election, she completes this work with ARK: United States Part 5.
TICKETS: https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/laurie-anderson-ark-united-states-part-5/
VENUE: The Hall, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ
Tuesday 12 November – Saturday 16 November, 7.30pm
Wednesday 20 November – Saturday 23 November, 7.30pm
Sunday 24 November, 5pm
