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Barbara Hammer: The Art of Dying

Jul 02, 2019

Artist and filmmaker Barbara Hammer stands in between curtains of X-ray films holding projections of CT scan images. Photo courtesy of the Barbara Hammer Estate

"There is a general fear of talking about death in the Western world ... We do ourselves a disservice to not engage in ruminations of this most powerful life force, for aren't we alive until our last breath, and isn't this a rite of passage we wish to address in our art?"—Barbara Hammer at the Whitney Museum

Barbara Hammer brought joy and rigorous honesty to her work to the very end. In October of last year, five months before she passed at the age of 79, Hammer presented the lecture-performance The Art of Dying or (Palliative Art Making in the Age of Anxiety) at the Whitney Museum of American Art. You can watch this moving work below.

In it, Hammer offers the wisdom she's acquired over five decades of making art and over a decade of living with cancer. She passionately advocates for the experience of dying as an untapped source of inspiration and for creating as an effective form of palliative therapy. She also touches on works such as 1972's Dyketactics and 1990's Sanctus, the process of creating Evidentiary Bodies, and her desire for an immersive installation of the work, as it is shown at the Wex.

On Saturday, July 13, at 1 PM, the center will host a meeting of Death Cafe, The international, all-volunteer program aims "to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives." Participants are invited to discuss death and dying in a comfortable, agenda-free environment. If you're interested in attending, RSVP here.

 

Lead image of Barbara Hammer courtesy Barbara Hammer Estate