Hammer Blog

Between 2010 and 2011, artists collective Machine Project produced more than seventy-five on-site programs and installations for the Hammer Museum’s Public Engagement Artist-in-Residence (A.I.R.) program.

MON | APR 16 | 7PM | HAMMER SCREENINGS

ARARAT

Atom Egoyan’s award-winning Ararat is based loosely on the Siege of Van during the Armenian Genocide. While exploring the human impact of that specific historical event, the film also examines the nature of truth and its representation through art. Starring Charles Aznavour, Christopher Plummer, and David Alpay, Ararat was awarded Best Film on Human Rights by the Political Film Society of Hollywood and the Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board of Review in New York. (2002, Dir. Atom Egoyan, 115 min.)

A Q&A with actor David Alpay (“Raffi”) will follow the screening.

TUE | APR 17 | 7PM | HAMMER SCREENINGS

SCREAMERS

The documentary Screamers chronicles Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down’s efforts to persuade both the British and U.S. governments to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The film explores why genocides repeat

Public Engagement Project by Lisa Anne Auerbach



Last spring artist Lisa Anne Auerbach trained as a Hammer security guard to gain insight on the role of guards at the museum. She subsequently worked shifts in the galleries that informed her Public Engagement project, United We Stand. For her subtle intervention, Auerbach replaced the guards’ standard blazers with a new set, tailored for each guard and bearing a slogan on the back related to standing. She honed in on standing as she found it to be a definitive element of her experience as a guard, physically taxing and particular to the guards’ job at the museum.

“I wanted my project to both call attention to the personality and humanity of the guard and to encourage viewers to consider one aspect of their daily experience, that of standing,” says Auerbach. “At the same time, my goal was to respect the anonymity

THE HAMMER MUSEUM TO AWARD
THE MOHN PRIZE DURING MADE IN L.A. 2012
A professional jury and the public will select one artist to receive this $100,000 prize

The Hammer Museum is pleased to announce the establishment of the Mohn Prize in conjunction with the inauguration of Made in L.A. 2012. Funded through the generosity of Los Angeles philanthropists and art collectors Jarl and Pamela Mohn, the $100,000 prize will be awarded to an artist from the exhibition and will be accompanied by the publication of a book on the finalist’s work. The Mohn Prize follows in the tradition of the Tate's Turner Prize and the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Bucksbaum Award. However it is differentiated in one significant way: while a professional jury will select five finalists for the Mohn Prize, the winner will be chosen by visitors to the exhibition through online voting

Mike is one of the most influential and defining artists of his generation and his impact on the practices of younger artists around the globe is immeasurable.

In 2007, the Hammer honored Mike at our annual Gala in the Garden. John Waters, who was a dear friend to Mike, delivered the tribute to him. We asked John if we could reprint his remarkable speech as a remembrance. We will all miss Mike very much.

-Ann Philbin

Hammer Gala | October 14, 2007



[caption id="attachment_2688" align="alignnone" width="389" caption="John Waters & Mike Kelley, 2007. Photo: Stefanie Keenan."][/caption]

I live with Mike Kelley. Yes, the man who made pitiful seem sexy, the man who turned grimy thrift shop stuffed animals into heartbreaking, jaw-dropping beauty by placing them on stained blankets on the floor of art museums. The man who may have even inspired a whole new underground sexual fetish—that of the “plushie