Guess what: the art of dying is the same as the art of living
March 18, 2019 9:14 PM   Subscribe

Inspired by Rainer Marie Rilke's book "Letters to a Young Poet," 79 year-old lesbian artist Barbara Hammer ruminates on the experiences of living with advanced cancer while making art. In this performative lecture delivered at the Whitney on October 10, 2018, Hammer shares guidelines and film clips from her long-term art-making practice.
The Art of Dying or (Palliative Art Making in the Age of Anxiety) by Barbara Hammer (1939-2019)

Barbara Hammer's Exit Interview (The New Yorker)
I got out of the marriage in about a year. I took with me my little Volkswagen and a tape recorder, and put it in my car along with a crazy dress. Then I started living in Berkeley and somebody gave me a Super-8 camera and I made a lot of films. I would do something crazy. I would hitchhike up and down College Avenue and then I would tape-record people inside the car, what they thought of me, what it was like living there. I would get to the end of the street, get out, come back the other way interviewing people. I went to Gay Pride and walked around interviewing people about what an orgasm felt like. And, you know, I would find some who would participate. But the audio didn’t come out, because it was so noisy at the festival. You could call it eccentric. You have an idea—you try it. Those are the processes that I followed at that time. I would write my name and address and put them in a balloon for people to find. Because otherwise I’d be lost in the world.
Remembrances from:
Vanity Fair
ARTnews
The Advocate
Artforum

Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant
posted by edeezy (2 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
Thanks for sharing this. I thought the parts of the interview that were a conversation between herself and her partner about caretaking and how being in a relationship shapes your life were beautifully frank.
posted by congen at 5:20 AM on March 19, 2019


.
posted by dadaclonefly at 2:54 PM on March 20, 2019


« Older A Rally of Librarians Who Are Nonetheless Human...   |   You didn't see that big fireball in December?... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments