I had the oportunity to meet Mat Barney at his headquearters in LIC, NYC. I play in a death metal band and he flew my band from San Diego to NY to perform at a clandestine underground metal show/weird art expo sort of thing. He was genuinely friendly and even let my band stay at his 2 million dollar yatch. Him and Bjork are huge death metal fans. I hung out with him and his crew till sunsrise at a russian strip bar. It was a real honor meeting him.
I dont know how but this just give me inspiration for a lot of stuff. I can't even understand why but this visuals helps to born new brains on my brain.
I saw Matthew Barney's complete Cremaster Cycle at the Guggenheim in New York over two days some years ago. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen in contemporary art.
I don't know if you've seen the Cremaster Cycle but I found each film to be mesmerizing. Perhaps Barney isn't as adept at expressing in words what his art is about (though he's far from inarticulate). The fact is that language, sometimes is not adequate to describe some things -- have you ever tried explaining a dream to someone?
Any artist will have some degree of trouble explaining their work. It's not because they're stupid or inarticulate, it's because art is hard to explain. Frankly, I'm skeptical of any artist that can explain everything about their work 100%.
Of course, if just talking could work and do a better job, then the artwork wouldn't be necessary. But that is not the case. Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
Dude can barely explain it at all. It’s like he can’t or this project is basically meaningless and he has to backfill an explanation. This work is merch for the rich art fans that pretend to get it but feel special because it costs a lot. His dvds were priced insanely high, and this guy can’t even tell what it is.
whomever stumbles across this i think would be well advised to read back at least ten pages of comments. you can watch a little of it until you begin to understand it, then listen to it in the background while you read. the comments here will tell you everything you need to know about this artwork. everything.
I appreciate his work. I have watched Drawing Restraint 9 and The Cremaster Cycle. Both seemed very abstract and gestural in nature, meaning it was more improvisatory with no linear narrative. It seemed more like a visual feast rather than a predictable beginning, middle, end like you see in most films. I would use his films to play in the background of a party (muted) while playing other music. His films are visual feasts...a collage of imagery and colorful shapes and objects open for your own journey/quest.
Art is a language of the subconscious, a way of dealing with feelings and intuitions that we can't yet articulate or understand. If something had to be explainable or even meaningful to be called art, our range of exploration with it would be severely limited.
Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
Of course, if just talking could work and do a better job, then the artwork wouldn't be necessary. But that is not the case. Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
During the six weeks that follows the conception, the embryo has no signs of a sexual differentiation, until the glands provoke the formation of feminine or masculine organs....with the help of The European Commission
"They will attempt to destroy anything that differs from their own / not being able to create art they will not understand art / they will consider their failure as creators only as a failure of the world / not being able to love fully they will believe your love incomplete / and then they will hate you / and their hatred will be perfect / like a shining diamond / like a knife / like a mountain / like a tiger / like hemlock / their finest art" -- Bukowski
Boa Noite from Sao Paulo Brasil, I think most of the comments were stupid. Matthew Barney is a genius. i understand what he is saying, and he has content and context. Not any artist can go to documenta and have govt. funding. I am going to the Cremaster film on November here in Sao Paulo on November 22nd 2010 and I cannot wait. Thumbs up Matthew. i love what you are doing, and i am a great fan of yours. Keep up the great work Big Hug, Melton
when i watched c3 i loved it, i can't say i know every symbolic aspect, i don't think that's the point, the point of this art or any art is actually very simple and always the same, it's to be an antennae, every single time. what the antennae is connected to is up to whoever is seeking the frequency, a radio, paper, plastic, people themselves, doesn't really matter, starting after the initial frequency is ascertained is the first step of detachment from one's own intention, and the 'internal logic' of ego dissipation into that which is forming has begun. Anything finished, is always amazing.
Art babble aside, I think it's impossible to expect any artist to be able to articulate their work in words. If they could they wouldn't be so driven to try and express their ideas through other mediums. I'll agree that he has a certain luxury of over-intelectualizing and because of that he can get a little self indulgent, but this obsession he has with sexual differentiation is actually really interesting, and the imagery he uses is gorgeous, despite the convoluted narrative. He's fine by me!
I am a smart ass myself. Problem with intellectualisation and verbalisation is that in the highest mountain its always cold and windy and nothing ever happens there but the snow and the wind. Memories has to have emotional content. Absolute zero means no movement whatsoever. No memory. No experience. Just a fog of sleep. You think you wake up once in a while, but its just your trauma revisiting you. Very interesting. But just interesting. Meaninglessly interesting. Like an actor without a heart. A vampire. The kind behaviour of a predator.
+Americansikkunt Yes. Violence. Some (or most) employees work faster and better and are more true their boss (wife) (husband) if his cruel. Picasso was cruel to his girlfriends. I actually think he copied it from the woman he had met. Like Iggy Pop sings: Beat or be beaten. Eat or be eaten. The world is driven by fear not love. I myself identify with God not ego. People sense that and reject me or attack me, like Mr. Smith attacks Neo. In the end Neo let Mr. Smith take him over, remember? But even after wearing the shape of Mr. Smith Neos core was Neo.
+Americansikkunt The way artists are interesting is the way they reveal to the world who they are. The part that is interesting is their mistakes. You can learn from your own mistakes, its called wise. But if you can learn from other peoples mistakes your smart.
It is VISUAL art. I don't get when people say it's undecipherable. We do not ask Dali to make sens, neither should we ask Barney to make sens as long as it's visually mysterious and attractive...
I saw the cycle years ago. The fascinating beauty and grotesque imagery, coupled with its epic scale and length, if you consider it as one piece cut into five sections to make it viewable, for the three days of viewing I sat and returned to sit again like a fly watching flys cocooned and the spider of the films central focus casually spinning cocooning and eating my focus to revel incarnation after incarnation of theatrical spectacle you would assume monarchs and rulers regularly would request.
i fucking love his work, don't get me wrong, but listening to him talk is like carrying on a conversation with my 7 year old nephew. I kind of feel sorry for bjoke now
It's also funny that he considers narrative so important seeing as how the films are impossible to digest and inaccessible (outside of galleries/museums) as well. Yay!!! I get to sit on an uncomfortable wooden bench with no back and try to watch a five hour movie which is only one out of a series of five. The art-world is so inclusive I just can't understand why it's dying.
I think it strives to create problem and higher thinking and in doing so rejects the self participation which all art desires. He's a technician of conceptualisation. I think this stuff is about as constructive and/or interactive as masturbation. And regarding the Warhol quote, I think that is very meaningful in context, but when applied to this, detracts from it. In saying all this, I think It is very beautiful, He certainly has a way with images.
i was noticing that bjork has probably had an influence on matthew barney. also, he tries to display the point in which an embryo is neither masculine nor feminine, yet he is a male, so his viewpoint is inevitably masculine, thus making his work biased and contradictory.
I'm confused by many of the comments. I can understand not liking the work(s) - but, nothing he is saying is all that complex to grasp or incoherent. I personally like the body of work that extends out of the large scale "film/operatic" projects he has done (the sculptures especially). Thematically, there are perfectly coherent connections to various (esoteric) subjects - somewhat Joycean and/or improvisatory, but easily looked up and understood. No problem if someone doesn't like it on aesthetic grounds, but to pretend that "there is nothing there" is a little manipulative or naive.
Barney's films are well done, both technically and, I feel, artistically. As a result they have had a profound impact on me, moreso than other exhibits I have seen. I saw the series at the Guggenheim when Cremaster 3 was released and was amazed. I have yet to see the whole interview but would encourage people to seek out the films before judging the artist too harshly.
I think the statement sums it up... I think most of us connect film and narrative with a coherent overarching meaning too much, which is why his work is so widely decried by the public. Barney seems only interested in superficial links between symbols, and is far more invested in the symbols themselves, which is why the interview seems so unintelligible, cos he's just talking about the obscure symbols. I think what we can appreciate is the aesthetic that arises from this bizarre creative process
but isn't all art narcissistic to some extent, just some are better at masking it than others? and i'll still always think MB's (we're on initials terms) stuff will be interesting to look at, and if something is going to be as conceptual or long-winded as this, i'm glad he hasn't sacrificed being entertaining, or provoking that unconscious synesthesia that all great artists manage to do
I think his work is beautiful, and I want to fully understand it..but it's not that accessible is it? I'm glad Bjork doesn't make just six copies of an album and sell them for £250,000 each..she's a true artist in that sense. But well done matty-boy, keep up the aesthetics!
I've seen all the Cremaster films and the last Drawing Restraint Installment. Production values and art direction worthy of a Kubrik film--such claustrophobic heights and agoraphobic intimacies, oh if that were enough. Imagine if these resources went toward a more interesting, more substantial narrative, something less self-important than the poetics of ambivalence and arrested development. Matthew, I had alotta fun, keep in touch.
Cremaster1, Busby Berkeley meets 2001 meets Star Treks ovarian cysts. Not bad. How did he get a rodeo in the middle of Rocky Mountain salt flats in #2? Saw Barney at the showing. He's impressive until he opens his mouth. I've seen him in NYC before w/o knowing who he was.
@cyclesandepicycles That's not him, it's someone doing a parody of him in a commentary. Check out the channel for that vid. I'd like to see a vid of Barney's reaction to watching that, though. See if he doesn't take himself too seriously :P
@ChrisCasio You could be right. But remember that when a work of genius appears, many people aren't quite up to the task of realizing its many layers of new information.
@cyclesandepicycles just a note, a very important skill of any serious artist is the ability to express their ideas in words. otherwise they don't get any grants or scholarships. Even to do a exhibition you need to submit a written manifesto or artist statement. Art that 'speak for itself' is usually mediocre, simple art
Yeah that's exactly what I'm suggesting. I think profits corrupt the honesty of ones art. I probably wont look it up but I'm sure it is interesting. I respect the fact that it deals with issues which interest you and that you find it a fulfilling meditation. I'm sorry I called you a chump, that was definitely off topic. I just get sour about art that is so profitable and blatantly unaccessable to anyone without an explicitly historical knowledge of art.
i guess i sort of agree with the detractors below me, as the formula of 'let's see how many rituals/art forms/disparate cultural practices we can cram into one piece' can definitely wear thin.
Your english is far better than that of our president [ forgive me]. Anyway, what I see in Barney is an astonishing imagination, whatever the form he chooses. The strangeness is thrilling, however obsure some of his central preoccupations [ which seem connected to, you know, the generative; to the testes, sperm, forms in transition].
Also, despite his penchant for monotonous over-verbalization, Barney actually has a ridiculous sense of humor! look up the directors commentary he did for the Drawing Restraint 9 trailer, in which he fills the role of both himself and Bjork who was not present for the recording. If only he weren't stuck pandering to the art world and could be this silly all the time. Someone quoted it earlier, but yes, the butterfly is in the mayo!
Gosh, that is some deep sh*t. But I am interested to know more. I wish he was physically in front of me, because I have so many questions. It seems to be about the rise & fall of man. Or rather his/her struggles of independence, but not so much on a political level..?
I guess you don't understand the courage it takes to put part of yourself in front of EVERYONE. You should try it and see if every loves and accepts it.
It's meant to be from a male point of view..i.e. A man remembering, or longing for a time where gender was yet undiscovered or unknown, and the cremaster cycle doesn't necessarily depict this state, but rather the journey out of this state into masculinity. I really don't understand why him being male makes his argument contradictory to the point he makes. I don't think he's trying to be sexless, I think he's more exploring the idea.
When did I say not to see it? I think we can all agree that if you require an explanation from the artist in order to get something out of the work, then it's not good art, no? I've got nothing against MB, I actually went to his exhibit at the Guggenheim in NYC. I just don't think it's art. I'm not an authority, but I'm as entitled to my opinion as you are to yours, and if someone is actually NOT going to go see his exhibit based on MY COMMENT ALONE, then that person is an idiot.
I hope you feel like your money was well spent, and I hope your friends were impressed - I mean, that's why you bought it, right? To further project that vision of yourself that you desire so badly...
I don't know anything about this guy other than the fact that he is an artist who was married to Björk. I have never been so bored during an interview. Monotone voice, sounds tired and I can't even focus on what he's saying.
Conceptual art is a farce. But maybe that’s that point, like life, it takes you so far only to reveal it’s a bullshit game, and no one truly gets it, least not the creator. We are all pretending Regarding his actual work.... the visuals at the time perplexed critics and audiences alike, but now look simple, and quite frankly dated (in 2019). The series work somewhat well in tandem with his installations, but only due to a collection of 'visuals', and not at all as actual films that say something, due to basic editing, amateur production, and pacing. They may have cost a pretty penny, but their value is a non entity. Therefore, The Cremaster Series, are nothing but contrived expensive commercials for Barney's sculptures, which are, in their isolated states, (for the lack of a better word) simple. Of course simplicity does have a place in the realm of art, yet, I don't like his work, they didn't speak to me. When they do, they don't say much. It's almost post-post-PopArt/Warhol. But there is no in-joke. No humor. No blatant lie. He is so deadly serious. He isn't “selling” an idea here, or giving something freely even, which can be take away (in mind or heart), to be cherished later on, but rather, he is subjecting you to a "masturbation", his American male "masturbation", in 5 parts, over 7 hours, which happen to take place in, near, on, or around his sculptures. Vaseline and all. It's pure narcissism, and self loathing all at the same time. One feeding (off) the other. An expensive wank. A cover which hides a violent dance between the American archetypes of (failed) Jock and (misunderstood) man-child-artist. Enter the idea of the the supreme destruction of masculinity not by feminism, socialism or veganism, but surprisingly by the false constructs men created for themselves in the first place. Ego baby. Is Barney subconsciously admitting that all females- archetypes and real - are artists, prophets, as they are healers? Is he alluding to the fact that men have usurped these roles by brandishing women as witches, heretics, devilish symbols and Pan-like objects; and hidden this by celebrating, congratulating, and honouring only themselves along the way? Ha! Is he that smart? That generous? That forgiving? Yes! And sadly No! But therein lies some glimmer of truth. And hope. A dilema of the current period (21 century). His art represents at best a schizoid social disorder. It's about him in all his American maleness, virility, and self worth, and yet it's about all of us, our self loathing, our dark feminine shadows, and hurt ego wanks! As a result his art is mildly successful in the message it doesn’t portray but hints at, a reflection of our time (any glance at current affairs will show, both young and aging public ego masturbation fantasies seem to have taken over almost every political, social and cultural arenas). But sadly ultimately his art fails on a cerebral, and emotional level. Indeed ex-wifey Bjork was right! Barney fears limitless emotions. Including his own. Emotions, that would seem to have been alluded to things which are feminine, weak, useless in his “art” world. And honestly, as a result we are as bored as she is (with his "apocalyptic obsessions") Still thanks for the show Matt. Now pass the klenix please!
I had the oportunity to meet Mat Barney at his headquearters in LIC, NYC. I play in a death metal band and he flew my band from San Diego to NY to perform at a clandestine underground metal show/weird art expo sort of thing. He was genuinely friendly and even let my band stay at his 2 million dollar yatch. Him and Bjork are huge death metal fans. I hung out with him and his crew till sunsrise at a russian strip bar. It was a real honor meeting him.
Thysempiternus best comment ever.
and at the end u have sucked him?
I dont know how but this just give me inspiration for a lot of stuff. I can't even understand why but this visuals helps to born new brains on my brain.
I saw Matthew Barney's complete Cremaster Cycle at the Guggenheim in New York over two days some years ago. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen in contemporary art.
I know, right? I imagined this intimidating, scary masculine voice
my left ear really enjoyed this video...
I don't know if you've seen the Cremaster Cycle but I found each film to be mesmerizing. Perhaps Barney isn't as adept at expressing in words what his art is about (though he's far from inarticulate). The fact is that language, sometimes is not adequate to describe some things -- have you ever tried explaining a dream to someone?
Any artist will have some degree of trouble explaining their work. It's not because they're stupid or inarticulate, it's because art is hard to explain. Frankly, I'm skeptical of any artist that can explain everything about their work 100%.
Of course, if just talking could work and do a better job, then the artwork wouldn't be necessary. But that is not the case. Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
Dude can barely explain it at all. It’s like he can’t or this project is basically meaningless and he has to backfill an explanation. This work is merch for the rich art fans that pretend to get it but feel special because it costs a lot. His dvds were priced insanely high, and this guy can’t even tell what it is.
whomever stumbles across this i think would be well advised to read back at least ten pages of comments. you can watch a little of it until you begin to understand it, then listen to it in the background while you read. the comments here will tell you everything you need to know about this artwork. everything.
I appreciate his work. I have watched Drawing Restraint 9 and The Cremaster Cycle. Both seemed very abstract and gestural in nature, meaning it was more improvisatory with no linear narrative. It seemed more like a visual feast rather than a predictable beginning, middle, end like you see in most films. I would use his films to play in the background of a party (muted) while playing other music. His films are visual feasts...a collage of imagery and colorful shapes and objects open for your own journey/quest.
I did my final piece on this series in photography 101 in college. almost lost my mind in the process.
I love Matthew Barney. His work is intriguing, disturbing, maddening, beautiful, horrifying and hilarious. To me, this makes truly great art.
Art is a language of the subconscious, a way of dealing with feelings and intuitions that we can't yet articulate or understand. If something had to be explainable or even meaningful to be called art, our range of exploration with it would be severely limited.
His voice is not what I expected.
Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
THIS IS ALMOST ALL ENCRYPTED ALCHEMY!
Now that I've heard his explanation of his work, all I need is an explanation of his explanation of his work. Anyone?
Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
Of course, if just talking could work and do a better job, then the artwork wouldn't be necessary. But that is not the case. Going to a place like a gallery has its routine and to exceed those expectations you have to make the gallery a different place and that's definitely an aspect of his work, he, Barney, wants you to experience a (different) place and not the gallery. The interview shows the simplicity with which Barney describes aspects of his work, which in no way detracts from the content of the works or makes them seem ridiculously outlandish.
@@usacut6968 nobody hear you. all those 11 years old commentators are dead nowadays
During the six weeks that follows the conception, the embryo has no signs of a sexual differentiation, until the glands provoke the formation of feminine or masculine organs....with the help of The European Commission
sshuck lol I thank the European Commission every time I pee standing up!
That montage at the beginning really makes Matthew Barney seem more interesting than he is.
"They will attempt to destroy anything that differs from their own / not being able to create art they will not understand art / they will consider their failure as creators only as a failure of the world / not being able to love fully they will believe your love incomplete / and then they will hate you / and their hatred will be perfect / like a shining diamond / like a knife / like a mountain / like a tiger / like hemlock / their finest art" -- Bukowski
thank you for posting this! i find barney's work, particularly the cremaster cycle, somewhat reminiscent of christopher byler's "Gutta Percha"
Boa Noite from Sao Paulo Brasil, I think most of the comments were stupid.
Matthew Barney is a genius. i understand what he is saying, and he has
content and context. Not any artist can go to documenta and have govt.
funding. I am going to the Cremaster film on November here in Sao Paulo
on November 22nd 2010 and I cannot wait. Thumbs up Matthew. i love
what you are doing, and i am a great fan of yours. Keep up the great work
Big Hug,
Melton
when i watched c3 i loved it, i can't say i know every symbolic aspect, i don't think that's the point, the point of this art or any art is actually very simple and always the same, it's to be an antennae, every single time. what the antennae is connected to is up to whoever is seeking the frequency, a radio, paper, plastic, people themselves, doesn't really matter, starting after the initial frequency is ascertained is the first step of detachment from one's own intention, and the 'internal logic' of ego dissipation into that which is forming has begun. Anything finished, is always amazing.
Art babble aside, I think it's impossible to expect any artist to be able to articulate their work in words. If they could they wouldn't be so driven to try and express their ideas through other mediums. I'll agree that he has a certain luxury of over-intelectualizing and because of that he can get a little self indulgent, but this obsession he has with sexual differentiation is actually really interesting, and the imagery he uses is gorgeous, despite the convoluted narrative. He's fine by me!
I am a smart ass myself. Problem with intellectualisation and verbalisation is that in the highest mountain its always cold and windy and nothing ever happens there but the snow and the wind. Memories has to have emotional content. Absolute zero means no movement whatsoever. No memory. No experience. Just a fog of sleep. You think you wake up once in a while, but its just your trauma revisiting you. Very interesting. But just interesting. Meaninglessly interesting. Like an actor without a heart. A vampire. The kind behaviour of a predator.
Is that about freemasonry as well?
+Americansikkunt Yes. Violence. Some (or most) employees work faster and better and are more true their boss (wife) (husband) if his cruel. Picasso was cruel to his girlfriends. I actually think he copied it from the woman he had met. Like Iggy Pop sings: Beat or be beaten. Eat or be eaten. The world is driven by fear not love. I myself identify with God not ego. People sense that and reject me or attack me, like Mr. Smith attacks Neo. In the end Neo let Mr. Smith take him over, remember? But even after wearing the shape of Mr. Smith Neos core was Neo.
+Americansikkunt The way artists are interesting is the way they reveal to the world who they are. The part that is interesting is their mistakes. You can learn from your own mistakes, its called wise. But if you can learn from other peoples mistakes your smart.
Jan Martin Ulvåg thank you for your replies.
...sometimes there is a goat on the mountain
It is VISUAL art. I don't get when people say it's undecipherable. We do not ask Dali to make sens, neither should we ask Barney to make sens as long as it's visually mysterious and attractive...
I saw the cycle years ago. The fascinating beauty and grotesque imagery, coupled with its epic scale and length, if you consider it as one piece cut into five sections to make it viewable, for the three days of viewing I sat and returned to sit again like a fly watching flys cocooned and the spider of the films central focus casually spinning cocooning and eating my focus to revel incarnation after incarnation of theatrical spectacle you would assume monarchs and rulers regularly would request.
i fucking love his work, don't get me wrong, but listening to him talk is like carrying on a conversation with my 7 year old nephew. I kind of feel sorry for bjoke now
matthew Barney is hot.
the only genuine art he's ever made was to inspire vespertine
Diana June 👍
Oh snap !
oooohh snaaaaaaap
Wrong, Vulnicura is pretty dope.
i think it's fascinating that a project dealing with life, birth, and sex is so deeply lifeless. not necessarily bad, but definitely lifeless.
WOE. LIFELESS.
It's also funny that he considers narrative so important seeing as how the films are impossible to digest and inaccessible (outside of galleries/museums) as well. Yay!!! I get to sit on an uncomfortable wooden bench with no back and try to watch a five hour movie which is only one out of a series of five. The art-world is so inclusive I just can't understand why it's dying.
i think ol Matthew might need to have some consultation with the Wizard of Oz
I think it strives to create problem and higher thinking and in doing so rejects the self participation which all art desires. He's a technician of conceptualisation. I think this stuff is about as constructive and/or interactive as masturbation. And regarding the Warhol quote, I think that is very meaningful in context, but when applied to this, detracts from it. In saying all this, I think It is very beautiful, He certainly has a way with images.
no, no one can completely comprehend exactly how to feel as a response, thats up to you. interpret through whatever instinctual impulses you have
There's a butterfly in the mayonnaise.
i was noticing that bjork has probably had an influence on matthew barney. also, he tries to display the point in which an embryo is neither masculine nor feminine, yet he is a male, so his viewpoint is inevitably masculine, thus making his work biased and contradictory.
pretty interesting guy...bjork brought me here
I'm confused by many of the comments. I can understand not liking the work(s) - but, nothing he is saying is all that complex to grasp or incoherent. I personally like the body of work that extends out of the large scale "film/operatic" projects he has done (the sculptures especially). Thematically, there are perfectly coherent connections to various (esoteric) subjects - somewhat Joycean and/or improvisatory, but easily looked up and understood. No problem if someone doesn't like it on aesthetic grounds, but to pretend that "there is nothing there" is a little manipulative or naive.
Barney's films are well done, both technically and, I feel, artistically. As a result they have had a profound impact on me, moreso than other exhibits I have seen. I saw the series at the Guggenheim when Cremaster 3 was released and was amazed. I have yet to see the whole interview but would encourage people to seek out the films before judging the artist too harshly.
thank you for this
well he is man, he can't escape the influence his understanding of self has on his work.
I think the statement sums it up... I think most of us connect film and narrative with a coherent overarching meaning too much, which is why his work is so widely decried by the public. Barney seems only interested in superficial links between symbols, and is far more invested in the symbols themselves, which is why the interview seems so unintelligible, cos he's just talking about the obscure symbols. I think what we can appreciate is the aesthetic that arises from this bizarre creative process
a fascinating interview. thanks for sharing it
but isn't all art narcissistic to some extent, just some are better at masking it than others? and i'll still always think MB's (we're on initials terms) stuff will be interesting to look at, and if something is going to be as conceptual or long-winded as this, i'm glad he hasn't sacrificed being entertaining, or provoking that unconscious synesthesia that all great artists manage to do
Matthew you are the best! =D
He's like a talking Tori Amos song!
I think his work is beautiful, and I want to fully understand it..but it's not that accessible is it? I'm glad Bjork doesn't make just six copies of an album and sell them for £250,000 each..she's a true artist in that sense. But well done matty-boy, keep up the aesthetics!
I've seen all the Cremaster films and the last Drawing Restraint Installment. Production values and art direction worthy of a Kubrik film--such claustrophobic heights and agoraphobic intimacies, oh if that were enough. Imagine if these resources went toward a more interesting, more substantial narrative, something less self-important than the poetics of ambivalence and arrested development. Matthew, I had alotta fun, keep in touch.
Cremaster1, Busby Berkeley meets 2001 meets Star Treks ovarian cysts.
Not bad. How did he get a rodeo in the middle of Rocky Mountain salt flats
in #2?
Saw Barney at the showing. He's impressive until he opens his mouth.
I've seen him in NYC before w/o knowing who he was.
Would this be an extra on one of the 20 copies of the DVD set?
5.51---------Very true. There is no consciousness. He is a sleepwalker.
@cyclesandepicycles That's not him, it's someone doing a parody of him in a commentary. Check out the channel for that vid.
I'd like to see a vid of Barney's reaction to watching that, though. See if he doesn't take himself too seriously :P
Can someone find me? I'm truly lost.
Thanks for sharing. Anybody have any videos like this? I am trying to find the best explainations about art by the artist.
Really? Are you so sure?
"um"
@MRBEARDMA Thank you, you made my day (night).
@ChrisCasio You could be right. But remember that when a work of genius appears, many people aren't quite up to the task of realizing its many layers of new information.
why does the dog keep running around and around the barn?
Massively epic, carefully constructed, bombastic nonsense.
Not too sure if memes are dank or spicy. A critic is you!
where can i download this films ?
So, which tactic do you say Barney is using?
How did Bjork get this guy?!!!
Remarkable artist
@cyclesandepicycles just a note, a very important skill of any serious artist is the ability to express their ideas in words. otherwise they don't get any grants or scholarships. Even to do a exhibition you need to submit a written manifesto or artist statement. Art that 'speak for itself' is usually mediocre, simple art
i'm afraid of my own inconscient. god, i've been trying to find those words my entire life.
possibly the first instance of the word "qualia" in a youtube comment
Have you seen his daughter?? Her face is pretty much his and Bjork's morphed together.
he's a jock turned artist
Yeah that's exactly what I'm suggesting. I think profits corrupt the honesty of ones art. I probably wont look it up but I'm sure it is interesting. I respect the fact that it deals with issues which interest you and that you find it a fulfilling meditation. I'm sorry I called you a chump, that was definitely off topic. I just get sour about art that is so profitable and blatantly unaccessable to anyone without an explicitly historical knowledge of art.
Visionary!
i guess i sort of agree with the detractors below me, as the formula of 'let's see how many rituals/art forms/disparate cultural practices we can cram into one piece' can definitely wear thin.
So everyone should model their tastes after yours? Everyone should see the world as you do? You have it all figured out? Awesome.Really, thats great.
Your english is far better than that of our president [ forgive me]. Anyway, what I see in Barney is an astonishing imagination, whatever the form he chooses. The strangeness is thrilling, however obsure some of his central preoccupations [ which seem connected to, you know, the generative; to the testes, sperm, forms in transition].
@jsalmon Exactly. Thank you. I hate explaining things, it's not fun.
Who did the rock climbing????????
barney
so you can determine who matt loves?
Also, despite his penchant for monotonous over-verbalization, Barney actually has a ridiculous sense of humor! look up the directors commentary he did for the Drawing Restraint 9 trailer, in which he fills the role of both himself and Bjork who was not present for the recording. If only he weren't stuck pandering to the art world and could be this silly all the time.
Someone quoted it earlier, but yes, the butterfly is in the mayo!
if u want u can love him.
thats why i love me.
Gosh, that is some deep sh*t. But I am interested to know more. I wish he was physically in front of me, because I have so many questions. It seems to be about the rise & fall of man. Or rather his/her struggles of independence, but not so much on a political level..?
Mr Barney, I don't care if you're straight, bi, gay or whatever other label. Nor would I ask any difficult questions (sorry Byork).
How mind numbing. I really need to break my habit of learning about the artists i like. It's never as exciting as the art itself.
Seconded.
Where did you find it?
that was a michel gondry video. i find it VERY unlikely that matthew barney has any influence on michel gondry.
there is a thin line between art and narcissism I think he has crossed it
"oh."
@hipdada lol - love that "interview"
Am I stupid because I don't understand any of his movies?
Tracy Castillo understand? Just watch it.
I guess you don't understand the courage it takes to put part of yourself in front of EVERYONE. You should try it and see if every loves and accepts it.
definitely cant be bothered to watch all this
It's meant to be from a male point of view..i.e. A man remembering, or longing for a time where gender was yet undiscovered or unknown, and the cremaster cycle doesn't necessarily depict this state, but rather the journey out of this state into masculinity. I really don't understand why him being male makes his argument contradictory to the point he makes. I don't think he's trying to be sexless, I think he's more exploring the idea.
@redrocket110 very well said, sir.
How did I stumble upon this? Artsy-fartsy...
I never liked Bjork, so this makes perfect sense to me that this is the man she married.
I feel bad for you
When did I say not to see it? I think we can all agree that if you require an explanation from the artist in order to get something out of the work, then it's not good art, no? I've got nothing against MB, I actually went to his exhibit at the Guggenheim in NYC. I just don't think it's art. I'm not an authority, but I'm as entitled to my opinion as you are to yours, and if someone is actually NOT going to go see his exhibit based on MY COMMENT ALONE, then that person is an idiot.
I hope you feel like your money was well spent, and I hope your friends were impressed - I mean, that's why you bought it, right? To further project that vision of yourself that you desire so badly...
I don't know anything about this guy other than the fact that he is an artist who was married to Björk. I have never been so bored during an interview. Monotone voice, sounds tired and I can't even focus on what he's saying.
Yes indeed and Lynch's movies are good.
He gets the $ to do this from the collectors who pay 100s of 1000s for hardcopies of his film
Conceptual art is a farce. But maybe that’s that point, like life, it takes you so far only to reveal it’s a bullshit game, and no one truly gets it, least not the creator. We are all pretending Regarding his actual work.... the visuals at the time perplexed critics and audiences alike, but now look simple, and quite frankly dated (in 2019). The series work somewhat well in tandem with his installations, but only due to a collection of 'visuals', and not at all as actual films that say something, due to basic editing, amateur production, and pacing. They may have cost a pretty penny, but their value is a non entity. Therefore, The Cremaster Series, are nothing but contrived expensive commercials for Barney's sculptures, which are, in their isolated states, (for the lack of a better word) simple. Of course simplicity does have a place in the realm of art, yet, I don't like his work, they didn't speak to me. When they do, they don't say much. It's almost post-post-PopArt/Warhol. But there is no in-joke. No humor. No blatant lie. He is so deadly serious. He isn't “selling” an idea here, or giving something freely even, which can be take away (in mind or heart), to be cherished later on, but rather, he is subjecting you to a "masturbation", his American male "masturbation", in 5 parts, over 7 hours, which happen to take place in, near, on, or around his sculptures. Vaseline and all. It's pure narcissism, and self loathing all at the same time. One feeding (off) the other. An expensive wank. A cover which hides a violent dance between the American archetypes of (failed) Jock and (misunderstood) man-child-artist. Enter the idea of the the supreme destruction of masculinity not by feminism, socialism or veganism, but surprisingly by the false constructs men created for themselves in the first place. Ego baby. Is Barney subconsciously admitting that all females- archetypes and real - are artists, prophets, as they are healers? Is he alluding to the fact that men have usurped these roles by brandishing women as witches, heretics, devilish symbols and Pan-like objects; and hidden this by celebrating, congratulating, and honouring only themselves along the way? Ha! Is he that smart? That generous? That forgiving? Yes! And sadly No! But therein lies some glimmer of truth. And hope. A dilema of the current period (21 century). His art represents at best a schizoid social disorder. It's about him in all his American maleness, virility, and self worth, and yet it's about all of us, our self loathing, our dark feminine shadows, and hurt ego wanks! As a result his art is mildly successful in the message it doesn’t portray but hints at, a reflection of our time (any glance at current affairs will show, both young and aging public ego masturbation fantasies seem to have taken over almost every political, social and cultural arenas). But sadly ultimately his art fails on a cerebral, and emotional level. Indeed ex-wifey Bjork was right! Barney fears limitless emotions. Including his own. Emotions, that would seem to have been alluded to things which are feminine, weak, useless in his “art” world. And honestly, as a result we are as bored as she is (with his "apocalyptic obsessions") Still thanks for the show Matt. Now pass the klenix please!