WEBVTT

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(projector humming)

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(soft music)

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Barbara, really...

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She wanted to put life on screen

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that wasn\'t there.

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Eroticism, sensuality.

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Lesbian life on screen.

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(projector beeping)

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(soft music)

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Putting women on the screen.

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Putting the nude body on the screen

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in a way that was artistic, not voyeuristic.

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Was really important to her.

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Replacing the male gaze

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with what she saw, as the beauty of women\'s bodies.

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And so, she did what she knew.

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Which was, her life.

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(upbeat music)

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She just had a big mind and a big vision.

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And, created this whole world.

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She knew early on that she wanted to be known.

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She made a body of work that is astounding.

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More than eighty films.

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Over two thousands pieces of wall art.

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And, she did installations and performances.

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She was relentless in her pursuit of making art.

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(upbeat music)

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So, right away, I found myself

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with two audiences.

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Which has been both a delight and a bane

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on my life.

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One, an experimental audience

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\'cause I\'ve always been interested in inventing

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new form and new language.

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And, I believe with lesbians, we need to have

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a new way of talking.

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We can\'t just adapt, the boys of patriarchal language

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and have our visions expressed.

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I documented all my relationships.

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All of whoever would be in my work.

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And, second audience, was the lesbian audience.

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(soft music)

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This kind of support, of a woman behind another woman.

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I think, isn\'t talked about enough.

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Barbara Hammer.

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To me, she was a partner for thirty-one years.

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People have said, \"Oh, you two had a love story

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for the ages.\"

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I think we did.

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(audience cheering)

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Barbara wanted her work to live on.

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She was very meticulous about her archive.

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She made a living legacy, that just keeps on giving.

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So, that was the request to do what I could

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to make sure it lives on.

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But, as I do that...

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It becomes part of my experience.

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So, I had a career, she had a career.

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They were very different.

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But, we supported each other.

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That was one of the things that kept us together.

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Isn\'t she gorgeous girls?

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Eat your heart out, she\'s mine.

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You know, we just had a great life.

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We had a great love affair, for 31 years.

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I just made a commitment this morning

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to another year of loving you, and-

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Which one of you?

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We were very complimentary in our relationship.

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I was shy.

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There was nothing shy about Barbara.

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She loved being in front of the camera.

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She loved the attention.

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A very strong personality, very energetic,

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very engaging.

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Fifty dollars an hour.

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I lost a lot of my shyness being her partner.

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I had to, I mean...

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Listen, I want you to know I love her.

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I said to Barbara, \"I don\'t like

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being photographed.\"

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\"I don\'t wanna be in your films.\"

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Are you filming this?

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We don\'t have to use it.

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You could tell me.

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I don\'t like it when you don\'t tell me.

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Okay.

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I mean, she was disappointed.

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She said, \"You would be so great in my films.\"

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And I said, \"thank you, but no.\"

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It was just some way to keep things separate.

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These two women are career women, mind you.

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They do not enter a relationship lightly.

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They enter as one enters a career.

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There\'s possibilities for job growths, security,

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expansion and benefits.

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Barbara in her private life with me,

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would be able to take a breath.

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Would be able to step back.

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She didn\'t tell me that was I her inspiration

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until I heard her say those words.

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So, Barbara. Is there...

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Anything that we haven\'t talked about?

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Yeah, we haven\'t talked about...

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We haven\'t talked about the sustained love

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that I\'ve received and continue support

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from my lover, Florrie Burke.

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And she said, \"You are my inspiration.\"

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\"Because you\'re there for me.\"

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\"You make it possible for me to do this work.\"

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(soft music)

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I think she was inspired by the depth

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of our relationship.

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I feel very lucky.

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Your eyes are watering up.

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(TV static)

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And then, this happened.

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For many years, I would joke with Barbara

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and say, \"Don\'t ever ask me to take care

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of your work.\"

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\"If you go first, because I\'m not doing it.\"

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\"I don\'t know anything about this stuff.\"

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\"I can\'t do it.\"

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About two years before she died...

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It came to me, that I can do this.

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I don\'t know her work in a certain way.

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But, I know her feelings about her work.

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And so, one day I just said,

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\"You know, I\'ve changed my mind.\"

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\"I will manage it.\"

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\"I will manage your legacy.\"

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She cried, I cried.

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She said, \"Nobody knows what I want,

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better than you.\"

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\"And I know you can do it.\"

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Because Barbara had a serious cancer diagnosis,

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she was able to carefully plan her archive.

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However, she had other pieces of art

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in her personal storage.

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And those are the things that we\'re still discovering.

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I\'m finding all these things

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that she\'d earmarked for me,

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and left in her studio.

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And so, I\'ve been living with her work.

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You know, literally.

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In my apartment.

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And, getting things kind of in order.

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Almost every day I get a request

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from either a museum, a gallery, someone who wants

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to screen a film.

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It\'s a difficult task, \'cause it\'s been a new

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skill-set for me.

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But, I love doing it.

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Because it keeps Barbara close to me all the time.

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I find out things about her that I didn\'t know.

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I find work that I didn\'t know existed.

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One of the greatest treasures...

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That I found, was a photo of Barbara.

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On a trip, that someone had taken of her

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with a horse.

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And I thought, \"That\'s so Barbara.\"

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\"That is Barbara, just everything about it.\"

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It\'s the first drawing that anyone has by Barbara.

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And, I think she was about seven.

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The horse thing was a through-line.

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It was just something that she loved.

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And, I think it was because it was who she was.

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Running free.

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Galloping through life.

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I think her spirit comes through her work.

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It goes on and on.

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I think there\'s still surprises to be had.

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(soft music)

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(projector humming)

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Hi honey, hi.

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I missed you.

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So, I thought I\'d send you a little diary note.

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And talk to you, right now.

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Some days are hard to be without you.

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So, I have your little picture here.

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I hope you can hear me.

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Hope you can see me.

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I hope the traffic on Washington Street

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doesn\'t drown out this message.

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You know, I\'m going to make mistakes.

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But, you know what I\'m saying.

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(kisses smooching)

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(soft music)

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I can\'t believe we\'re doing this.

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You know, it\'s just...

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Put me in a place.

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I felt so responsible, so responsible to handle

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the way Barbara would have wanted.

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I really feel like, now I\'ve reached the point

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where she would be happy and I can not do so much.

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So, I am...

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Turning over the...

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The art legacy.

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It\'ll give me a chance to participate

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in a different way, as a viewer.

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And, it becomes another type of relationship

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between Barbara and me.

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Love people and show it

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when people are vulnerable.

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That\'s the answer.

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Love is the answer.

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Love is the answer.

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(exhales shakily)

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I love you and miss you.

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My beloved, Barbara Hammer.

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I hear so often of your reach, your influence.

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Your legacy is huge.

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It keeps me amazed, as you did for 31 years.

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(soft music)