Ann Hamilton, Visiting Artist Lecture 1991

Speaking about her art for the first time in a number of years, installation/performance artist Ann Hamilton shows slides from twelve projects, beginning with the toothpick suit, in which she was concerned with the body as an object. This project led to other works about vulnerability and later to site-specific installations that deal with systems, both human and non-human. The lecture is rich with allusions to books and music that have have functioned as the impetus for the labor-intensive work which Hamilton has found both rewarding and exhausting. As a result, Hamilton has had to accept the help of other hands, with the result that many of the pieces have enjoyed a strong sense of community in the process of making them.