Cremaster 4, film still from video.
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Larger Image |
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Title |
Cremaster 4, film still from video. |
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Creator |
Barney, Matthew (American sculptor and filmmaker, born 1967) |
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Date |
1994-1995 |
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Cultural Context |
American
North American |
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Subject |
Film stills
Motion pictures
Storytelling
Fantasy
Myths
Science fiction
Metamorphosis
Supernatural
Supernatural beings
Heroes
Dandies
Men
Ears
Suits (Clothing)
Corsages |
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Description |
"Here the artist aspires to a metamorphosis which hints partly at mythology, partly at science fiction. However, with mock pathos, Barney's floppy ears and dual kiss-curls inadequately match up to the four horns of the ram which the video's plot establishes as his ideal." (Caption, p.245); "[…] the work of the younger American artist, Matthew Barney, looks forward ambivalently, conjuring up futuristic technological fantasies. […] On the whole, the technologies of the 1990s have not had a major structural impact on art. Digitalization has become widespread in photography and film, but the Internet, although potentially the means of generating a new pool of creative energies in the manner of 1960s Conceptualism, has yet to yield up much of consequence. Barney makes full use of the technologies available, but he concocts a lush vision of a world where technology has become not so much a tool as something invasive. […] His series of generically titled Cremaster videos has involved enigmatic narratives steeped in bizarre imagery. In Cremaster 4 (1994), the plot revolves around a hybrid satyr-cum-dandy (played by Barney) whose ambition, it seems is to achieve the more impressive hybridity of the Loughton Ram, one of a four-horned species of ram from the Isle of Man. The hero finally attains the ram's realm (the Isle of Man itself) via a peculiar descent into the sea followed by a journey along a form of uterine passageway (possibly symbolizing rebirth). His libidinal metamorphoses are meanwhile symbolized by the futuristic image of two teams of motorbike and sidecar riders, in matching yellow and blue leathers, who rapidly circuit the island in reverse directions." (Excerpt, p.245) |
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People Pictured |
Barney, Matthew |
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Technique |
Filmmaking |
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Work Type |
Video art
Film stills |
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Source |
Hopkins, David. After Modern Art: 1945-2000. Oxford History of Art. Oxford; New York: Oxford UP, 2000. (p.[244], fig.130) |
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Rights |
Photo Michael James O'Brien. Reproduced courtesy of Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York. |
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Digital Publisher |
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center |
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Format |
image/jpeg |
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Digital File Name |
VRC 827-03.jpg |
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Rating |
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