Heart of a Dog                                                                                                       Courtesy of HBO Documentary Films

Article by Marcus Siu

She is an amazing artist like no other of her generation; she has no peers who can come close for comparison at her performance level.  She initially started out in sculpture, then gradually as an abstract painter, and then as a musician performing to “open jowled” audiences around the world…

I’m referring to the extraordinary renowned artist, Lolabelle, a beloved rat terrier dog, who ironically also happens to be owned and “conceived” by the internationally renowned multimedia performance artist in her own right; Laurie Anderson.

As Lolabelle was losing her sight during her later years, she would discover, with the guidance of Anderson, a new way to be creative.  She took on art and piano lessons and became a quick learner with an ear probably keener than “Nipper”, the RCA dog.  It probably also didn’t hurt that she grew up in an iconic and creative musical household.

Heart of a Dog – Lolabelle in Concert                                                           Courtesy of HBO Documentary Films

“Heart of a Dog” was first conceived by Arte, a French/German TV network, who asked Anderson to compose a personal essay about the meaning of life and work, and specifically about her dog. Anderson thought it was going to be a short project, but soon found herself immersed with much more material to build on, especially when she was left alone with no pressure from Arte.  It became an instant hobby for her.

The finished product would become her philosophy of life, comprising a collection of short stories on film.

Topics and observations include questioning the need for post 9/11 surveillance cameras all over New York City; the government obsession of storing personal information in the cloud; her mother giving a barely audible deathbed speech to her eight children as she died; memories of her childhood saving her twin brothers by diving into the hole through a frozen lake, and her own”life confirming” incident from a diving board accident that almost ended her life when she was 12 years old.

Though life and death are the major subject of the film; so is love and loss.  In addition to losing her dog, Lolabelle, who she loved forever when she met face to face in the hospital room in her recurring dreams, she had recently lost two other major forces in her life: her mother and the person she loved more than anyone in the world, her husband and soul mate, Lou Reed.

One of Anderson’s Buddhist teachers, Mingyur Rinpoche quotes “You should try to practice how to feel sad without actually being sad”.  This represents the center section of the film, depicting the bardo or the Tibetan afterlife.

Anderson, one of our greatest storytellers, known for being technologically innovative at her multimedia performances, and even calls herself a “tech geek”, ironically used low tech devices in the film, such as iPhones, drone cameras and GoPro’s.

In addition, her brother handed her undeveloped reels of 8mm films of their childhood, which captivated Anderson, as she was reminded of her almost forgotten childhood with her seven other siblings along with her mother, when she almost lost her twin brothers in the middle of a frozen lake in the Midwest.  When watching these timeless images of these recently developed films, it almost looked like post production was used, but it was actually just the way the chemicals disintegrated the film naturally over time.

The film captures a hallucinatory and hypnotic mood, along with the sound of Anderson’s signature violin effects that are familiar to it from her live multimedia performances.  She showcases her personal and intimate storytelling ability that demonstrates her magical ability to reach and connect to an audience like no other.

“Heart of a Dog” was dedicated to Lou Reed.

Opens November 13th

Laurie and Lolabelle Anderson