Laurie Anderson, rated as one of the world's top performance artists, makes her North-East debut at The Sage, Gateshead, on Sunday. Viv Hardwick finds out what she has in store for North-East fans... and why she's keen to visit Hadrian's Wall or Holy Island.

THOSE who can remember back to 1981 and the decidedly quirky No 2 pop single O Superman are at a distinct advantage when discussing the career of performance artist Laurie Anderson. The Chicago-born multi-media project creator arrives at Gateshead's The Sage on Sunday with a formidable reputation as NASA's first artist-in-residence and a mesmerising output of work that has taken her around the world.

Besides those who bought or heard the half-sung, half-spoken O Superman, the 57-year-old is nothing like as well-known in the UK as her boyfriend and Perfect Day creator Lou Reed.

On the eve of her latest solo performance of The End Of the Moon - which she describes as a "report-back" on her time at Florida's US national space station - Anderson is aware of being an unknown quantity for first visit to the North-East.

She's just delighted that tours of performance art equipment have reduced from two massive trucks to suitcases containing computer software.

"I didn't know that the NASA report was going to take this shape," admits the New York City-based artist who moves comfortably between movies, film, mime, visual projections, dance and her main chosen field of spoken and written language.

"Technically this is the most complicate thing I've ever done, but it doesn't look like that at all. I'm running something that uses computer software instead of one that would have involved a couple of big trucks five years ago. Now it's a couple of small cases and my work now fits in a briefcase and a pocket. It's so much fun to travel with now."

In fact, with more time to spend on sight-seeing rather than setting up electronics, Anderson is keen on viewing Hadrian's Wall or visiting Holy Island while in the region.

Normally the artist spends up to ten days at a time exploring Italy, France, Athens' Sacred Way or England's Ridgeway on foot. Perversely, she speaks of them as an "anti-pilgrimage" and claims: "I'm trying to think of these walks as goal-less. Wandering, looking... goals have been getting in the way of a lot of things."

With just two days to spare in the North-East she opts for tackling Holy Island by bicycle.

"I got back from Japan recently (having completed a series of concerts at the Expo '05 event), so it reminded me of how lucky I am not to be tied down to a tour and only having five minutes to look around cities," Anderson explains.

The End Of The Moon is described as "a long, long story about words with a little imagery and a lot of music with my violin as a conversation partner. Long stories about the people I met at NASA, the Hubble Telescope, mission control and the research that showed they have a similar problem to myself in that they are not sure what they're looking for.

"As an artist you have a hunch and keep your eyes open and they are doing the same thing. Einstein says he rejected some of his major theories because they weren't beautiful... and what we're all looking for is the something that makes you say 'wow'."

Mysteriously, Anderson talks about her performance no longer being in sequence although she accepts that her technical team of around 20 is aware of what she's attempting inside a running time of 90 minutes.

"This does allow me to improvise and be a lot more free. Sounds are created by software synthesizers which means I don't even have to use my big keyboard any more, it's all numbers using foot pedals, laptop, violin and little electronic things because I got so super burnt out creating big hi-tech shows," she explains.

Anderson's last high-profile job was acting as advisor to the Olympic opening ceremony in Greece in 2004. Sadly, the plan to use her as narrator was one of the cutbacks forced on the Athens project which ended up under pressure to make sure everything was finished in time.

The artist remains a controversial figure in the US because of her anti-war stance, and she continues to criticise her country's involvement in conflicts "even when they've faded from the newspaper headlines... it doesn't mean people have stopped dying".

Sadly, her NASA work coincided with the cancellation of space shuttle missions after the Columbia crash in 2003.

"It was a difficult time but a massive amount of research goes on," Anderson says. Asked which planet she'd visit if she had been given the chance, she replies: "Mars, particularly after studying the idea of greening the planet as a 10,000-year project. Then people here could become Martians and leave behind those who have created a world of empty, drilled-out holes to choke on their own lack of oxygen."

* Laurie Anderson's performance at The Sage, Gateshead, on Sunday at 7.30pm, has been organised by Newcastle-based Forma, Europe's leading agency for contemporary, cross-artform projects. Box Office: 0870 703 4555

* The End Of The Moon is part of the £12m 2005 Alive Festival Of Music celebrating the North-East's music, maritime links, sport and visual arts.

Published: ??/??/2004