Barbara Hammer the entrepreneur.

On September, 13. 2017, I had the chance to meet and encounter the woman who is a pioneer in queer films. I first became interested in queer films in Spring of 16' when I had my Black,Queer,and Feminist film class. The themes expressed in these movies are daring, but captured in the most transparent way. The work of art that was displayed was an Essay film on Elizabeth Bishop. Prior to that night, there was two things I knew to be true. I have never heard of the term Essay films, and I did not know of Elizabeth Bishop. I am very happy I learned about her, and Hammer later defined the term to be a film about ideas.

The definition of entrepreneurship by Alex Brown Center of Entrepreneurship speaks upon the idea of having a goal, idea, and the drive to achive it. Hammer touched on each of these themes when she discussed the making of her film. She expressed how this project first started because she was studying land on Cape Cod. Along the way of her doing research, Elizabeth Bishop was brought to her attention much like how I felt. There were many chanlleges Hammer faced while shooting as well. She learned to always get the release before the intreview, and to never give up when a certain thing is needed. Like the Key West house that Elizabeth Bishop lived in, because the house had owners who always rented the property, finding time as well as someone to let film was tricky. She later completed this task, in an awesome way and hours to spare.

This film took risk that overall was pleasing to anyones eye and ear. There are so many levels that this one film embodied. She used truncation, audio of the poems, old images matched and replaced with current images and videos. She even created the score played throughout the film. Showing the technical level, but also visual representation through her eyes.

After the artist event ended, I had time to reflect on what I have seen and learned. One of the biggest take aways is, I learned is that Art Residencies are an artist best friend. A lot of the things she has done has been through these programs. She expressed the joy of traveling and the idea to find passion in what you do, because you will always be excited for it.