The 29 photographs that make up Barbara Hammer's 2017 exhibition Truant: Photographs, 1970 – 1979, at Company Gallery in New York City, have often been described as 'utopic', or, in the case of an essay by the artist A.L. Steiner for the exhibition's accompanying catalogue – as 'heterotopic': a world within a world, othered. They are dynamic visions that encapsulate the hopes of a moment: unabashedly joyful, sexy and brimming with curiosity. But what was brewing culturally, politically and socially behind these photographs? In this chapter of New Friend, we trace Barbara Hammer's artistic and personal trajectory through the waning thrust of 20th century utopian aspirations, from the hippie and back-to-the-land movement to 1970s lesbian feminism and separatism, and then towards Hornby Island—an island so often associated with, and troubled by its utopian reputation. Listener discretion: This chapter of New Friend contains themes relating to racist and settler colonial violence, transphobic and homophobic histories, and outdated terms relating to gender and sexuality. New Friend is a five-part radio documentary exploring the story behind a series of photographs taken by the artist and experimental filmmaker, Barbara Hammer. The photographs were taken over one weekend in August 1973, on Hornby Island, Ja-Dai-Aich. Thank you to all of those who shared their stories, memories, and voices for the purposes of this project. In this chapter, you heard the following voices (in order of appearance): Nym HughesBarbara HammerAudre LordeDerek AndersonScott WatsonJudith LawrenceClair CroniaPersimmon BlackbridgeElaine SavoieBonita WexlerAnnie MartinThe rocks, plants, trees, wind, and water of Hornby Island Ja-Dai-Aich.Barbara Hammer's diary entries are voiced by Martha Ross.Excerpts from the following sources can also be heard within this chapter, whenever possible with permission from the author/copyright holder, and otherwise under Fair Use: Nym Hughes reading from A.L. Steiner's essay in Truant: Photographs, 1970-1979 (Capricious, 2017).Michel Foucault, Les Heterotopies, France culture, December 7 and 11, 1966, produced by Robert Valette.An Oral History with Barbara Hammer, interviewed by Svetlana Kitto, recorded for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, 2018Lesbian Sisters: Getting Together in the Lesbian Community, July 1973, Courtesy of Radio Pacifica.Beth Elliot, Good Time, 1976 (Buried Treasure, 2005).Kathy Fire, City on Fire, 1978 (Songs of Fire: Songs of a Lesbian Anarchist by Kathy Fire, 1978).Barbara Hammer, recordings at UCLA West Coast Lesbian Conference, April 1973 (from the recording "Kate Millett, Audre Lorde, UCLA First Lesbian Conference, part of X soundtrack, 1973", Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University).Barbara Hammer, Sisters, 1974.Barbara Hammer, Tender Fictions, 1996.Good Morning America, Hornby Island report.Credits: Hosted by Bitsy Knox.Production, research, script and sound design by Bitsy Knox.Mixing and mastering by Robert Steenkamer. New Friend was originally aired on Cashmere Radio Berlin and 96.5 CHFR Hornby Island Community Radio.Cover image courtesy of The Estate of Barbara Hammer.New Friend is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.Thank you to: The Estate of Barbara HammerHornby Island Community ArchivesBeinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale UniversityCashmere Radio, Berlin96.5 CHFR Hornby Island Community RadioKOW, BerlinCompany Gallery, New York CityFlorrie BurkeLouky Keijsers Koning Martha RossDerek AndersonRebecca DunneEmma WalterEmily HarrisonAll beings, human and more-than-human, of Hornby Island, Ja-Dai-Aich, and its surrounding waters—where I am a part-time, uninvited guest on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral land of the K'omoks First Nation, the Eitsen, Pentlach, Sasitla and Sahtloot peoples. Go here to learn more about the work of Barbara Hammer, including upcoming screenings and events. Bitsy Knox is an artist, editor, radio producer and writer. She grew up on the unceded and ancestral territory of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, also known as Vancouver, Canada. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Follow her on Instagram here. For more information, and to support independent community radio, visit Cashmere Radio and 96.5 CHFR Hornby Island Community Radio.
