Barbara Hammer was a prolific filmmaker, working with Super-8, 16mm and video as well as drawing and collage. With a style of filmmaking that was never confined to a single form or mode, Hammer often used the short film as a space for playful experimentation. The selected shorts offer a generous sample of her one-of-a-kind approach: personal, erotic, dreamy, and always radical.

In Audience (1982), Hammer more straightforwardly captures the diversity, thoughtfulness, fun-loving spirit and flirtations among the women in her audience. When she gets her hands on an Amiga Commodore computer in 1987, she makes No No Nooky T.V. (1987), combining 16mm footage with graphics made on the Amiga, resulting in a very queer, very funny and endlessly creative experiment. In Sanctus (1990), Hammer engages with the material qualities of the X-ray image, juxtaposing its visual beauty with the dangers inherent in its creation. Lesbian Whale (2015) is Barbara Hammer'a last film. She animates her personal notebooks from the 1970s, revisiting her early years as an artist through drawings and the intimate act of having her closest friends narrate her life and work.


This screening is part of Focus: Barbara Hammer, a program presenting films by American filmmaker and visual artist Barbara Hammer. See the full program here.