One of the seminal artists of our time, Laurie Anderson’s genre-crossing work encompasses performance, film, music, installation, writing, photography, and sculpture. Anderson will talk with MASS MoCA director Joe Thompson about her latest piece, Delusion, a series of short mystery plays that jump cut between the every day and the mythic. She’s here for a developmental residency before Delusion’s world premiere in February at the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

Conceived as a series of short mystery plays, Delusion jump-cuts between the every day and the mythic. Combining violin, electronic puppetry, music, and visuals, Delusion is full of nuns, elves, golems, rotting forests, ghost ships, archaeologists, dead relatives, and unmanned tankers. It tells its story in the colorful and poetic language that has become Anderson’s trademark. Inspired by the breadth of Balzac, Ozu, and Laurence Sterne, and employing a series of altered voices and imaginary guests, Anderson tells a complex story about longing, memory, and identity. At the heart of Delusion is the pleasure of language and a terror that the world is made entirely of words.

Anderson sets out the story with these words: “You begin with a blank mind. There is absolutely nothing in it. Not a single picture. There is a void. No names. The first thing to wander into this mind is a small spotted dog named Terence and his owner, historian and social commentator Fenway Bergamot.”

Make a day of it! After the event grab a bite to eat from Lickety Split or visit the galleries (open until 7:30pm). Then stay for an Alt Cab performance by Danish pop sensation Hess is More.

Priority Seating: Available for select performing arts events, priority seating tickets guarantee the ticket-holder one of the prime seats in the venue. Seats will be reserved before the doors open to general admission ticket holders and held until the start of the performance. For more information on priority seating contact the Box Office (413.MoCA.111).

Photo by Andrew Zuckerman