The Art of Walking

After Herman left, Thomas and Ravenstine went to see Talking Heads. Thomas told Ravenstine that Pere Ubu had been better than them, and Ravenstine answered with one name, Mayo Thompson. Thompson, of the Red Krayola, had toured England with the band in 1978. The record was made in January 1980 at Suma and was the first Pere Ubu studio album engineered by Paul Hamann, since his father Ken had retired in 1979.

Thomas said the concept came to him in the bathtub. As the water drained, the funnel it made was defined by the empty center, and he wanted an album defined by what was not stated. The title came after a fan said the band wrote too many songs about driving. On Lost in Art, the rhythm section recorded a keyboard jam, and Thomas then had Paul Hamann turn on the drum microphones and recorded the drums and vocals in one take. Horses was a song Thompson had first put out on his 1970 solo album. A performance of Birdies was featured in the 1982 film Urgh! A Music War. The album reportedly sold better than any earlier Pere Ubu release. Chris Cutler wrote in Melody Maker in 1980 that it was "a record of unique beauty".