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Institutional Dreams

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2014

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Extract

In Institutional Dream Series (Sleeping in Public), 1972–73, Laurie Anderson slept in eight different public places in order to measure their institutional impression. In her experiment Anderson used dreams—ostensibly her own—“to see if the place can color or control my dreams.” The short answer was—yes. Institutional Dream Series is an exploration of the self as medium. In sleeping and recording her sleep on the beach at Coney Island, in the halls of night court, at the bureau of immigration and naturalization, and in the women's bathroom at Columbia University Library, Anderson's performance suggests that vulnerability to bureaucratic structures and organizational schemes is not something to be avoided but studied. For there is pleasure, fear, and wisdom to be found in such exposure.

Information

Type
Forum on “The Burdens of Church History”
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 2014