Synopses & Reviews
Laurie Anderson (Chicago,1947)is one of the world s
most famous performance artists. About herself she says
I am singer of ballads: I love singing in different voices,
and she uses her creative talent with incredible versatility
in a wide range of fields: as a composer,photographer,
performer,teacher,narrator,art critic and comedienne.
From the 1970s onwards Anderson became one of the
leading exponents of the New York avant-garde through
the creation of works combining contemporary music,
narrative and poetic texts,experimental forms of visual
and acoustic communication,and the elaboration of electronic and video images.
In Italy Anderson created, at the Fondazione Prada, a
multi-media installation entitled Dal Vivo,devoted to meditation on time.It was derived from the observation of the
daily life of a prisoner, Santino Stefanini, who has been an
inmate of San Vittore Prison, Milan,for over twenty years.
Dal Vivohas its roots in Andersons experimentation, in
the early 1970s, with sound and vision,which was cocerned
with the relationship between language and society. In this
project the artist addresses many related aspects:the alteration of perception of time and body produced by the televised image,the concrete form of justice and the functions
of the controlling institutions, whether they be the prison
or of a cultural nature. The installation is based on the
refined use of technology that allows the transmission high-
quality video signals in order to create a three-dimensional
image of Stefanini at the Fondazione Prada. In this way
the artist gives the prisoner an opportunity to experience
a virtual release,culminating in the marvel of an apparition
that goes beyond both material and imaginary barriers.
On the occasion of this event,the Fondazione Prada published a book, edited by Germano Celant, which contains
a critical essay and an interview with the artist, texts by
Laurie Anderson on the conception and development of the
project and pictures of her activity. In addition to the docu-
ments relating to San Vittore Prison, illustrated by Roby
Schirers photographs, there is an interview with Santino
Stefanini as well as long excerpts from his autobiography.