These figures metaphorically represent an image of the body that has gradually evolved and acquired priority in Barney's vision of the world. (4)Ī major catalytic role in the development of Barney's imagery is played by a series of figures of historical and mythological origins. The distinction between organic and inorganic is, however, most trenchantly undermined by the choice of materials used to make the objects: sucrose, tapioca, and glucose on one hand, petroleum jelly, silicone and other prosthetic materials on the other. ![]() The artistic objects that accompany the videos resemble gymnastic gear. In the videos, body and machine may function as an inseparably intertwined whole. Medical associations follow as an equally logical consequence of his actions, as shown in his use of instruments with which to examine the interior of the body (speculums, hemorrhoidal ligator) and of materials like silicone and petroleum jelly.Ĭharacteristic of the image of the body, as expressed in the performance videos, is its permeability in both directions as well as the mutual assimilation of body and objects. During the performance the body orifices, especially the anus, are incorporated quite as much as the athletic body as a whole. This emphasis on the body and bodily action quite naturally leads into a sexual discourse that embraces lust, pain, ecstasy, and asceticism. In "Mile High Threshold: Flight with the Anal Sadistic Warrior" (1991), for example, Barney, supported by a body harness and using titanium ice screws, climbs naked up the walls of a room and tries to cross the ceiling hanging upside down. In later works, the body functions even more explicitly and as a specifically athletic object. It ended up being very similar with those kinds of narrative that are constructed inside the head of an athlete." (3) I've spent my entire life working with my body in the same way. When asked if he was interested in the idea of experimenting with limits, he replied, "Yeah of course, but I think I came to that because the idea was familiar to me. Against this background it may not only be interpreted as a celebration of the body but, in the era of AIDS also as a transformation of sexuality into the auto-eroticism of body building.(2) As such, it has functioned as an important building block in Barney's art. Athletic training, specifically body building, had become particularly entrenched in American daily life and in popular culture by the 1980s. These 'facilities to defeat the facility of drawing,' as Barney called them, necessitated that the artist pounce on a trampoline, climb ramps while straining at the end of tethers, and push blocking sleds (used to develop line skills in football training) simply in order to draw." (1) An absurd performance situation indeed, but the characteristics of the action are perfectly familiar: the strain, the tension and concentration of the toiling body, the effort to overcome physical limitations, and the endurance. His oeuvre thus always entails performance in combination with a diversity of media and materials.īetween 19, Barney produced his "Drawing Restraint" series, in which he "devised a number of situations which did for drawing what the wearing of ankle weights does for jogging: increased its strenuousness. In conjunction with these, Barney makes objects related to the properties and situations in his performances, as well as object-like drawings. His performances do not take place with an audience but are filmed and subsequently presented in the form of videos. In the composition and elaboration of his works, their form and content, Matthew Barney has always drawn on his own body as a central means of expression. "I've spent my entire life working with my body. A look at the early work will reveal some of the characteristic features of this artist's universe. Before beginning work on this cycle in 1994, Barney had already presented a personal universe that pits great mastery against discomfiting idiosyncrasy, in the single-minded pursuit of recurring aspects and elements of both form and content. 1967) work to date and in particular at "Cremaster 4" and "5", both already completed. Nonetheless, a meaningful discussion of the first part is feasible on taking a look at the ten years of Matthew Barney's (b. ![]() Since only three parts of the five-part "Cremaster" cycle have been completed to date, closer examination of "Cremaster 1" must remain tentative. A DIFFERENT STORY OF GENDER AND GENERATION - Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle
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