In Hammer’s autobiographical experimental film A Horse Is Not A Metaphor, the artist reflects on her personal fight against stage 3 ovarian cancer, transforming illness into recovery. Describing herself as a cancer "thriver" rather than a "survivor," Hammer rides on horseback through the red hills of Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, the grassy foothills of the Big Horn in Wyoming, and leafy paths in Woodstock, New York. In this multilayered film, Hammer moves from scenes of chemotherapy sessions to images of light and movement that take her far from the hospital bed. The haunting score is by musician Meredith Monk.
A Horse Is Not A Metaphor, 2008
Transferred 16 mm film







Transferred 16mm film, color, b&w, sound by Meredith Monk, 29:41 min
Estate of Barbara Hammer










































Barbara Hammer was born in Hollywood in 1939. Her documentary and experimental films are considered among the earliest and most extensive representations of lesbian identity, love, and sexuality. Accompanying her career as a filmmaker, Hammer has time and again worked with performance and installation. She has participated in group exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial in 1993, the WACK! show at MOCA L.A. and MoMA PS1 in 2007/2008. With film retrospectives at New York’s MoMA in 2010 and the Tate Modern, London, in 2012, the artworld's interest in Hammer's work has recently increased. Hammer has been a teacher for many years and held a professorship at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee (CH). She died in 2019.
Active CinemaInterview
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for Austrian Film Museum, 2018
- Anna Boghiguian
- Candice Breitz
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- Eugenio Dittborn
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- Estate of León Ferrari
- Sophie Gogl
- Estate of Barbara Hammer
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