Attack of the Gridlocked Artists

Last November, I saw Joan Baez in concert and found she’d maintained her 1960s self: still obsessed with Dylan, still a Vietnam-style activist, still singing ‘Amazing Grace.’ Nonetheless, she was endearing. The same goes for Pattie Smith and Laurie Anderson, whose new collaboration begins with the words, “The histories of the universe lie in the sleeping sex of a woman.” In Attack of the 50ft Artist, Patti speaks over Laurie Anderson’s music. Their message hasn’t changed: women are oppressed even when liberated. The video plays like a history lesson, starting with Egyptians and moving to the Rimbaud’s writing, about which Patti says, “That was a hundred years ago. Get cooking.” Neither Patti nor Laurie has gotten cooking. But they’re still busy telling everyone to break from inhibition, which, like Baez’s Dylan crush, is sweet because it’s so human.


http://www.livevideo.com/video/9C42012F118D48C9BBC7998E8189ABA5/attack-of-the-50ft-artists-.aspx