Of all the retrospectives and surveys I’ve seen, most have stimulated my eyes and my mind; a few have even involved using my ears. (There’s a reason what’s presented in museums is often called “visual art,” after all.) But the Leslie-Lohman Museum’s 2018 Barbara Hammer retrospective remains a standout because it demanded more of my body than a typical exhibition.  

I’m thinking of Hammer’s 1982 film Pond and Waterfall, which mostly depicts a rippling pond and the submerged plants beneath its surface. At the Leslie-Lohman, the piece was presented alongside a stethoscope that viewers were invited to use. I remember placing it to my chest and hearing my heart thump as Hammer’s camera sucked in green trees and sun-dappled water. It was the first time I’d ever produced my own soundtrack to an artwork.