Heart of a Dog

Centering on Laurie Anderson’s beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, who died in 2011, Heart of a Dog is a personal essay that weaves together childhood memories, video diaries, philosophical musings on data collection, surveillance culture and the Buddhist conception of the afterlife—and a heartfelt tribute to the artists, writers, musicians and thinkers who inspire her.

Fusing her own witty, inquisitive narration with original violin compositions, hand-drawn animation, 8mm home movies and artwork culled from exhibitions past and present, Anderson creates a hypnotic, collage-like visual language out of the raw materials of her life and art, examining how stories are constructed and told—and how we use them to make sense of our lives.

“It’s one of those movies that, as it gets its hooks into you, might make you impatient to watch it all over again.” (Telluride Film Festival)

“While this alternately goofy, serious, lyrical and beguiling cine-essay serves primarily as a loving tribute to the memory of [Laurie] Anderson’s rat terrier, Lolabelle, its roving, free-associative structure brings together all manner of richly eccentric musings on the evasions of memory, the limitations of language and storytelling, the strangeness of life in a post-9/11 surveillance state, and the difficulty and necessity of coming to terms with death.” (Variety)

film website: www.criterion.com/films/28909-heart-of-a-dog

Part of the College of Arts & Sciences' special Arts Unplugged event Building an Ark: A Conversation with Pioneering Artist Laurie Anderson on Innovation and Storytelling