Film Screening:
Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster Cycle”
Fine Arts Theater
February 29th – March 6th 2004
Sponsored by the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle, considered one of the most complex and daring pieces of art produced over the past decade, will be shown at the Fine Arts Theatre in downtown Asheville from February 29 to March 6, 2004. The week of screenings will exhibit the entirety of Barney’s ambitious film opus. A free showing of Cremaster 1 and a panel discussion on the entire series, sponsored by the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, will be held to kick off the week of screenings. The five-part nine-hour film series was recently on display at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, where an elaborate installation of photographs, drawings and sculptures expanded from the film saga to fill the entire museum. Currently touring throughout the world, this is the first time these films will be shown in 35mm format in the Carolinas.
Village Voice arts reporter Jerry Saltz described Barney as “one of the most interesting artists to emerge in the 1990s, and hands-down…the most interesting when it comes to the way he works with video.” Barney, currently based in New York, is known for his provocative works that explore the drives of human creativity described in the aesthetic framework of a highly personalized mythology. Merging a variety of artistic methods, from sculpture to film to dance, Barney produces dramas of tremendous energy that occupy a space that is both hauntingly fantastic and penetratingly real. The theme of the Cremaster Cycle, his main artistic production of the past decade, is the conflict and struggle within the human body during the first six weeks of development. Each of these five films varies widely in length, setting, characters and plot.
On Sunday February 29, a panel of critics, historians and artists will discuss the Cremaster Cycle and be available for questions after a 12:30 p.m. screening of the Cycle’s first film in the auditorium of the Fine Arts Theatre. The Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center is organizing the panel. Admission to this event is free but seating is limited. During the following week, the Cremaster films will screen at the Fine Arts Theatre each evening at 9:00pm and at a 12:30pm matinee on Saturday.
Tickets to each screening are $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for students. Tickets are available in advance at the Fine Arts Theatre box office. The Cremaster Cycle event is jointly sponsored by the Fine Arts Theatre and Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Center. The Fine Arts Theater is located one block off Pack Place Square at 36 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville.
FILM SYNOPSES
Cremaster 1 (40 minutes), Barney displays several sculptural works in the scene of a musical revue. The film introduces his personal relation to the narrative – starting with football in Boise, Idaho – as well as the physical process the Cremaster muscle enables: the tragic and dynamic determination of gender in fetal development.
Cremaster 2 (79 minutes) is a video landscape more than a narrative element in the cycle. Three generations of paternal figures appear – Harry Houdini, Norman Mailer, and Garry Gilmore – and take part in a dark, chaotic conflict between heavy metal guitars and drums and a cappella pieces by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This male aesthetic and cast is a stark contrast to the first film. Dave Lombardo (of the band Slayer) and Norman Mailer appear in the film.
Cremaster 4 (42 minutes) is an action packed post-modern myth. It recounts metamorphosis and movement in the development towards conclusion of sexual determination. The movie links the conflicted system to a motorcycle race on the Isle of Man and the development of the Loughton Candidate – a goat-like humanoid.
Cremaster 5 (55 minutes) is an opera set in Budapest, Hungary that describes the tragic ending of potential with the consummation of gender selection. Barney’s art emerges both in the amazing scenery of Budapest’s State Opera House and the costume and makeup of his humanoid creatures.
Cremaster 3 (182 minutes) is the newest, longest and most ambitious film in the series. The story starts and ends on the Isle of Man with a fairy tale about the creation of the island. The primary setting for the film is within the Chrysler skyscraper building in New York. Barney himself ascends the building and then enters a surreal five level “video game” within the Guggenheim Museum.
Screening Schedule
Sunday, 2/29, 12:30 pm
Cremaster 1
BMCMAC Panel
FREE
Monday, 3/1, 9:00 pm
Cremaster 2
Tuesday, 3/2, 9:00 pm
Cremaster 4 & Cremaster 5
Wednesday, 3/3, 9:00 pm
Cremaster 2
Thursday, 3/4, 9:00 pm
Cremaster 4 & Cremaster 5
Friday, 3/5, 9:00 pm
Cremaster 2
Saturday, 3/6, 12:30 pm
Cremaster 3
3 HOURS
PLEASE NOTE
The feature-length films deal with mature subject matter. There are brief scenes of violent and sexual material. It is not recommended for viewing by children.
For additional information about the Cremaster Cycle go to: http://www.cremaster.net.
For high resolution photos of the Cremaster Cycle for press purposes go to: http://www.emfoundation.co.uk/cremstills
