Experimental composer and performance artist Laurie Anderson is one of 15 women interviewed for the latest installment of the PBS American Masters documentary series American Masters: The Women’s List. In her interview, Anderson speaks about being an artist, a New Yorker, and a woman — explaining how the focus on gender wasn’t present in the downtown avant-garde arts scene when she started out in the ‘60s. When did that change and why? “I was talking about a very specific and unique moment of equality and camaraderie. It stands out in my mind because most other eras in the art world have been marked by competitiveness. My guess is, sadly, that it changed when money became part of the equation,” Anderson explains to Vulture. Directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, the series also includes interviews with Edie Falco, Shonda Rhimes, and former U.S. secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In this exclusive clip, watch Anderson talk about her “god complex” and how being “a control freak” has influenced her art. American Masters: The Women’s List premieres this Friday.
