Laurie Anderson loves the Rubin Museum in New York, dedicated to promoting the culture and art of the Himalayan regions, since the day it opened in 2004. «Many of us made Tibetan prayer flags, the ones that are hung until the gusts of air tear them, reducing them to shreds and bringing your pleas and desires upward. Mine depicted the “wind horse”, a symbolic good luck charm. Every time I have the opportunity to participate in some initiative, I continue to come. It is one of the most precious institutions in the city » he tells I Woman.
Laurie Anderson in Milan
Here she is pioneer in performance multimedia-composer-poet-photographer-director-electronics wizard-singer-instrumentalist in her lesser-known guise: that of “spiritual activist”. And now that a section of the Rubin “moves” to Milan – in a pavilion created ad hoc at the Bam, the Library of Trees – is happy to act as godmother.
«It’s always good to hope for something miraculous, but I don’t promise that you will suddenly achieve enlightenment during the experience of Mandala Lab (Tibetans believe that it often requires countless lives…)» he specifies Laurie, what He also edited a series of podcasts for Rubin and leads public conversations (the next ones will be with the director Tom McCarthy, the monk Tenzin Priyadarshi, close to the Dalai Lama, and the writer Benjamín Labatut). «But I assure you that you will feel the effect. The most likely thing is that you will feel what you sometimes feel while listening to a musical composition: perceiving yourself outside of time, completely immersed in the present.”
Laurie Anderson (photo Stephanie Diani).
What is Mandala Lab
What exactly does this “mandala laboratory” consist of, born on the third floor of the American museum and over the years becoming a traveling installation? The name refers to send itthe representations of the cosmos that Tibetan monks create with very fine colored sand and, once completed, destroy (maximum emblem of impermanence). As regards the structure, however, it is an interactive space for “emotional learning”, composed of a central room dedicated to ignorance (understood as unawareness of oneself and of reality), surrounded by four rooms in which anyone will be able to explore other “afflictive” emotions (pride, attachment, envy, anger) to train themselves to “transform their power into wisdom”. A journey based on videos, music, light sculptures, gongs suspended on water and even perfumes.
With Lou Reed, 21 years of love
This is what the Mandala Lab pavilion will look like, at the Bam – Biblioteca degli Alberi Milan.
«The key, in my opinion, to get through this difficult era is to stay in the moment. Stop and notice your thoughts, feelings and emotions. And recognize them all as fleeting” continues the artist. «They are not you, they don’t define you. So who are you? One of life’s greatest adventures is finding an answer to this question. Are you nothing? Or are you something? Are you both? Or neither of the two?”.
Anderson is not a dispenser of ready-made recipes, although she revealed in her recent acceptance speech for the Lifetime Achievement Grammy the three rules she had given herself with her husband, Lou Reedwho died in 2013: “Don’t be afraid of anyone (imagine what your existence would be like without fear).” “Get yourself a really good bullshit detector and learn how to use it.” “Be really, really soft.” Beliefs resulting from his encounter with Buddhism, which dates back many years: it was 1977 when he participated in a retreat at Insight Meditation Society of Barre, Massachusetts.
Laurie Anderson and meditation
But how has Eastern philosophy had an impact? «Meditation has made me more aware of the present, the only reality we have. The past and the future are fiction. If we free ourselves from unnecessary worries and ruminations, remaining anchored in the moment, life can be joyful, even though it is full of suffering and inevitably ends in death. There is a maxim that has now become a cliché, but – like many clichés – contains truth: “Existence is short, so it is important to make the most of it”. Which, coming from you, is certainly not an invitation to hedonism, rather to the importance of practicing compassion.
“Of course, existence can be desperation, and for many people it is,” he reiterates. “I believe we die as we live, so if we live with anxiety and fear, we are likely to die that way. If we live with joy, serenity and truth, we will die like this. So… don’t be afraid!
Maximum happiness
Easy to say? Yet she has already shown that she can do it. When Lou Reed passed away, after 21 years of love, her first reflection was: «I just feel the utmost happiness and I am so proud of the way he lived and passed away, of his incredible power and grace. I think the purpose of death is the realization of love.”
Practical info
La Bam, the Library of Trees Milan, the park immersed in the Portanuova district.
Appointment from March 24th to April 21st at the Bam, the Library of Trees Milanthe park immersed in the Portanuova district, for Mandala Lab @BAMthe immersive installation born from the collaboration between Riccardo Catella Foundation and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, open free to visitors of all ages. «Today more than ever there is a need for community and the experience of culture & art connects» explains Francesca Colombo, general cultural director of Bam – Riccardo Catella Foundation. «This new initiative goes further: it is a balm for emotions, put to the test by the pandemic. Wellness is one of our four pillars together with nature, culture and education.” Info on events and collateral activities: bam.milano.it
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