Hammer Blog

Whenever I’m asked, it’s an easy answer. My best interview was Joni Mitchell’s first interview in a decade. But utter honesty is a given. It’s the active ingredient in everything she does. By putting pen to paper, or brush to canvas, Joni speaks with a sly, up-to-the-minute, funny, and soulful personal truth that always feels like it’s created just for us. Nobody captures the feeling of love, the minefields of romance, the joy, and the aching beauty of the human experience, like Joni.

In the Italian filmmaker Yuri Ancarani’s trilogy of short films titled La malattia del ferro (The disease of iron; 2010–12), viewers are ushered into the hidden worlds of three very distinct and extremely specialized occupations: marble miners, scuba divers, and surgeons. The title refers to a syndrome something like cabin fever, in which workers who have spent a lot of time at sea have trouble adjusting to life on dry land. The laborers in each of these films appear to be completely removed from ordinary life. They are everyday heroes, alone together, just the workers and the machines that they rely on to do their work.

It’s the end of the month, so it’s time for Hammergram! We are fascinated by the photos our visitors take of the objects and spaces at the Hammer. That’s why we decided to launch Hammergram–a monthly round-up of our favorite visitor photos–in the hopes that they will inspire you to share your own Hammer experience with us!

Darryl Curran, a former student and long-time friend of Robert Heinecken, received his MA from UCLA in 1964. Since then, his work has been included in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, the Hammer Museum, the Center for Creative Photography, and the Museum of Modern Art. In conjunction with the exhibition Robert Heinecken: Object Matter, Curran offers an intimate reflection on Heinecken’s life and work. Curran’s photodiary, culled from his own collection of photos and mementos, offers a rare glimpse into Heinecken’s personality outside the classroom. Featuring snapshots from important conferences and private events, from the annual meetings of the Society for Photographic Education to Heinecken’s own memorial service, the images below demonstrate Heinecken’s centrality to the Southern California photographic community he helped create.

The Hammer is thrilled to present The Museum of Modern Art's renowned exhibition of films,The Contenders, this winter. MoMA's annual end-of-the-year series offers filmgoers the opportunity to see recently released films that are bound for awards glory or destined to become a cult classic, often accompanied by post-screening discussions with directors and actors.