Happy Weekend/Art Hour

O, Superman Letter-Crafting 

May 8, 2026
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

A detail photo of a tufted carpet featuring the face of a woman with short, spiky blonde hair singing in front of a red backdrop. The tufted image is stylized and appears grainy like watching a video on an old color TV.
Laurie Anderson, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Frame (detail), 2000. Inkjet on velvet, wool felt, burlap, and cotton twill tape, 37 1/2 x 55 1/2 inches. Photo credit: Constance Mensh.

After experiencing Some American Dreams, stop by the Feldman Forum between 4–6 PM to write a postcard or draw a picture in response to Laurie Anderson’s 1984 song, “O Superman.”

In this present moment, consider the powers that be in your own life. How can we speak to power? Can the powerful hold us in their “long arms,” as Anderson sings? Can we hold one another?

Organized in conjunction with Some American Dreams.

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Event Information

May 8, 2026
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

The Fabric Workshop and Museum
1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Harry I. Feldman Forum

 

Free | Registration encouraged

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Laurie Anderson - O Superman (Official Music Video)

Nonesuch Records

About the work

In Frame, on view in Some American Dreams, Laurie Anderson presents a still from the music video from her 1981 song “O Superman.” She uses the textured surface of the rug and the preservation of the time stamp to replicate the visual grain of video. Written in the aftermath of a disastrous 1980 rescue attempt of American hostages in Iran, “O Superman” is inspired by the lyrics of Jules Massenet’s “Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père” (O Sovereign, O Judge, O Father) from the 1885 opera Le Cid. By transforming the sovereign, judge, and father to Superman, Judge, and Mom and Dad, Anderson reinterprets Massenet’s prayer for victory in battle to invoke distinctly American notions of authority, nostalgia, technology, and the nuclear family.