I think I am especially well situated to reply to this. I have been
subjected to my very own apparently unmotivated vicious attack from Mr.
Cooper on this list. I also am not a big fan of Hammer's work, and have
been a lifelong advocate for Brakhage's, which might lend a little extra
credibility to my defense of Hammer.
This kind of unjustified personal attack, with no argument and no
evidence, is all too common on the Internet today, and is sadly typical
of Trumpism, not to say, of course, that Mr. Cooper is a Trumper, but
still. What do we learn from him telling someone to "get a life and get
a girlfriend" because he posts an enthusiastic review of an art exhibit?
This is offensive in the extreme. Not everyone wants a girlfriend -- or
a boyfriend -- and what does this even have to do with anything? The
usual meaning of this insult is to allege that the person being attacked
has all kinds of personal problems that would be solved by, well, a
sexual relationship with a woman. What a load of garbage; what an insult
to both women and relationships; what a way to evaluate our fellow humans.
To judge by the Hammer images online, they seems to my not very
favorably disposed eyes to be reasonably good work, at least
interesting, maybe more. I haven't seen the actual work, so I really
can't judge it. Has Mr. Cooper?
As for Mr. Cooper referring to Hammer, whose work has garnered much
attention and praise over many years, as "some dead lesbian," that is
beyond the pale. Can we all not agree that /no one/ should ever be
referred to in that way? His larger comment also makes no sense. I don't
know any evidence that Eric would not praise a Brakhage film called
"Woman I Love," though that is not a likely Brakhage title; his are
usually more indirect. It is also not Hammer's title; hers is "Women I
Love." Is Cooper's changing of the title a key to what so bothered him?
Personally, I think it's just fine if a woman -- or a man --wishes to
love, with their consent of course, many women.
Fred Camper
Chicago
On 8/10/2022 7:23 PM, Bruce Cooper wrote:
What if Brakhage made a film called "Woman I Love" instead of some
dead lesbian. You wouldn't make the same comments Eric. Get a life
and get a girlfriend.. I would like to talk to you sometime.
On Wed, Aug 10, 2022 at 2:12 PM Eric Theise <[email protected]> wrote:
I hadn't returned to the Bay Area by the time this Barbara Hammer
show – photographs mostly, but also films projected digitally –
opened but I went a few Saturdays ago and it was a treat. Worth
going for the photographs alone but Ratio 3 did the right thing
and erected a wall to make their back gallery a good bit more
light-tight and the three films projected there look great (the
four others are displayed on a pair of wall mounted monitors). One
could easily spend an hour or two taking it all in.
This coming Saturday the 13th is the last day. The gallery's open
every day until then from 11a-5p. I took a couple of friends along
as a surprise so I RSVPed via Ratio 3's website
<https://www.ratio3.org/> and that's probably a good idea.
In San Francisco's Mission District, across the street from the
24th & Mission BART stop.
& it was news to me that the neighboring gallery, Et Al., has
turned one of their spaces into a mostly art-focused bookstore.
Eric
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: *Ratio 3* <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 2:17 PM
Subject: Barbara Hammer: Women I Love opening Friday, June 24
To: <[email protected]>
Barbara Hammer, On the Road, Big Sur, California, 1975
/On the Road, Big Sur, California, 1975, /2017. Silver gelatin
print, 8 x 12 inches
*Barbara Hammer : /Women I Love/*
June 24 – August 13, 2022
Opening: Friday, June 24, 5 – 8pm
On view: Wednesday – Saturday, 11am – 5pm and by appointment
Schedule a visit
Ratio 3 is pleased to present /Women I Love/, an exhibition of
Barbara Hammer’s early photographs and films. The exhibition, like
the film after which it is titled, offers an immersive
introduction to the distinctive combination of technical
experimentation and earnest intimacy that defined Hammer’s
singular vision of lesbian identity and authorship in the 1970s.
Featuring artworks made while Hammer was living in San Francisco,
/Women I Love/ comprises the most extensive presentation of
Hammer’s work on the West Coast to date.
Hammer’s black and white photographs appear throughout the
exhibition, beginning with a selection of vintage silver gelatin
prints made by Hammer herself, and continuing with a suite of
recently editioned photographs printed from Hammer’s archived
negatives. From self-portraits to candid shots of women—alone and
in groups—in various states of repose and reverie, each photograph
provides a glimpse into Hammer’s evolving life and work. Whether
unflinchingly erotic or deliberately obscured by lens flares and
double-exposures, Hammer’s photographs are invariably generous. In
many regards, these stylistically varied photographs of the artist
and her friends and lovers mark the beginning of the iconoclastic
course Hammer would chart through subsequent decades.
While the judicious use of optical effects in her photographs
attest to Hammer’s embrace of technical experimentation, her
inventive command of her media is most apparent in her moving
images captured on 16mm film. A monitor in the second gallery
presents two of Hammer’s most iconic short films /Dyketactics/ and
/Menses/ (both 1974), in a continuous alternating loop.
Accompanied by soundtracks of synthesizers and distorted voices,
the films present surreal images of uninhibited women congregating
in groups, playfully satirizing womanhood and femininity into
scenes that are equally touching and absurd.
Further into the exhibition, another pair of short films,
/Multiple Orgasm/ (1976) and /Haircut/ (1978) demonstrate the
breadth and continuous growth of Hammer’s filmmaking practice.
Despite being made only years apart, these two silent films are
strikingly distinct; where one is overtly erotic and composed of
densely overlaid color footage, the other documents a quotidian
scene in black and white. Together, the films demonstrate Hammer’s
consistently inventive approach to experimentation, and the range
of visual styles through which she explored and celebrated the
nuances of different kinds of intimacy—from the autoerotic to the
subtler acts of nurture.
The final gallery features three longer films, screened
successively in an hour-long sequence; /Women I Love/ and
/Superdyke/, two of Hammer’s most celebrated films, followed by
/Superdyke Meets Madame X/, a collaboration between Hammer and Max
Almy. The films and photographs comprising the exhibition
highlight Hammer’s singular ability to recognize and capture the
nuances of intimacy and sexuality in lesbian relationships and
communities. Hammer’s work of the 1970s was pioneering both in its
influence on contemporary filmmaking and in its representation of
lesbian love and life.
Barbara Hammer was born in 1939 in Hollywood, CA and died in New
York, NY in 2019. Recognized as an influential figure in
experimental film, Hammer exhibited extensively throughout her
career. Her work has been the subject of film retrospectives at
major institutions internationally, including the Museum of Modern
Art in New York, the Tate Modern, and the National Gallery of Art
in DC.
This exhibition is accompanied by a brochure with a commissioned
essay by Sandra S. Phillips, Curator Emerita of Photography at the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Ratio 3 thanks the Estate of
Barbara Hammer and Company, New York, for their contributions and
collaboration in presenting /Women I Love/.
For all inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
--
Frameworks mailing list
[email protected]
https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org
--
Frameworks mailing list
[email protected]
https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org
