Lou Reed’s posthumous book ‘The Art of the Straight Line’ reveals a Tai Chi master
Society & Culture
Lou Reed was a visionary rock ‘n’ roll musician. He was also a dedicated practitioner of the ancient Chinese martial art of Tai Chi. That passion is the subject of The Art of the Straight Line, a posthumous collection of Reed’s writing on Tai Chi and conversations with friends and teachers that is the subject of this conversation with Laurie Anderson and Stephan Berwick.
Susan St.Denis Published March 13, 2023
From “The Art of the Straight Line” by Lou Reed, copyright 2023.
If you’re in New York tomorrow, click here for details of a live event with Laurie Anderson and the other editors of The Art of the Straight Line.
“Not to get too flowery here, but I want more out of life than a gold record and fame. I want to mature like a warrior. I want the power and grace I never had a chance to learn…Tai Chi puts you in touch with the invisible power of — yes — the universe. The best of energies become available, and soon your body and mind become an invisible power.”
— Lou Reed, from an original letter published by The New York Times, October 25, 2010
Lou Reed was a founding member of the legendary rock band The Velvet Underground, and had a groundbreaking solo career that spanned five decades until his death in 2013. His many collaborators included Andy Warhol, John Cale, Robert Wilson, and Metallica. Reed’s influence continues to be heard in the music of every generation of artistic outcast that yearns for a sound that reveals tenderness underneath a rough exterior.
Some might be surprised, however, to learn of Reed’s other great passion: Tai Chi (太極拳 tàijí quán), a martial art that originated in China some 2,000 years ago. Reed’s dedication to the form began in the 1980s and continued all the way to his very final moments in 2013, as you can read below.
Before Reed passed away, he left behind scattered notes about Tai Chi for a book. His wife, the musician and artist Laurie Anderson, worked with Stephan Berwick, Bob Currie, and Scott Richman to bring together his writings and create The Art of the Straight Line. The book shares the story of Reed’s physical, mental, and spiritual journey through the challenges of Tai Chi, and is also something of a how-to guide for aspiring Tai Chi practitioners.
I talked to Anderson and Berwick about the book last week. This is an abridged, lightly edited transcript of our conversation.
—Susan St.Denis
From “The Art of the Straight Line” by Lou Reed, copyright 2023.
The China Project: How did you two first meet and get to know Lou Reed?
Stephan Berwick: I first met Lou in 2003 at a large Chinese martial arts event out in California with his teacher Rèn Guǎngyì 任广义, who insisted that I come with him. He really wanted me to meet Lou. Master Ren, as we all called him, was just getting started teaching Lou, and right off the bat I saw what kind of relationship they had.
Laurie Anderson: We met a few times, but we were in different sorts of circles. When you think of the New York art world, art music world, there’s about 25 different circles in there. You can revolve around your own little circle, in a little eddy of your own, and never meet other people within their little so-called art world. Our first date (I didn’t realize it was a date at first) was at the Acoustical Engineering Society. We went to see two microphones. We both loved microphones, and we went to look at them. We were together from then on.
Lou began this book in 2009, but unfortunately was unable to finish it before his passing. What led you to take on the task of picking up where he left off and bringing this book to completion?
Laurie: My experience after he died was pretty much like a 15-story building fell on top of me. I was suddenly responsible for the whole estate, for the music — for everything, and being the one who had to make all those decisions. So, I did that very gradually, and hired a couple of people to help me.
The book was always on my mind, but it wasn’t number one. It took us maybe three or four years after his death to kind of go, “All right, let’s finally do the book. Let’s try to gather these pages up and see what we can make of it.”
There wasn’t enough for a book, in terms of pages; there was enough for a pamphlet. So we decided to expand it and talk to his friends, to his fellow practitioners, and to his various teachers of all kinds, and kind of make a collage…it was always for us. The idea was not to make a portrait of Lou, but it was to inspire people to do tai chi, period. It was going to be a handbook.
Stephan: Lou was just overwhelmingly passionate about promoting this particular piece of Chinese culture. He was a ‘Kung Fu head’! He loved Chinese martial arts, like so many people do all over the world. But he didn’t come to it like a Sinologist. He didn’t come to it like so many folks of a certain age, maybe the Gen X age, who, when China first opened up, ran over to China to study the language and taste an exotic new world. He really came to it as a brilliant artist who was open and hungry for something to improve himself.
He wanted the world to know, to understand, what this is, not on the mystical side, but on just the practical side. He seemed to understand what is powerful about this piece of culture. And whether you speak the language, whether you have immersed yourself in the culture socially or personally, it doesn’t matter, you can still get something out of this rich and deep art form. And that was the message he wanted to get out there. That’s honestly what fueled us to get this book done
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