Cremaster 5
Matthew Barney / US, 1997 / 54 min.
Screening of the last part of Matthew Barney’s opera-esque tale The Cremaster Cycle, exploring how human creativity, sagas, myths and biological processes work. Introduced by Sjaron Minailo, opera director and programmer of the Opera Forward Festival (14 thru 23 March).
Matthew Barney (San Francisco, 1967) spent eight years working on this project, which runs to almost seven hours. Between 1994 and 2002, five separate instalments were released in non-chronological order (4-1-5-2-3). These ‘filmic sculptures’ (Barney) were usually shown in galleries and museums – as well as at international art festivals.
The visual richness, imagination, intellectual reach and playful, at times vaudevillian, nature of the cycle has been lauded worldwide. At the same time, viewers have been bewildered by the question: what on earth is The Cremaster Cycle all about?
Vaseline shapes
And what to make of the universe Barney has created, full of tap-dancing satyrs, mutant genitals and weird, congealed Vaseline shapes? What do Harry Houdini, a Hungarian opera singer, American serial murderer Gary Gilmore and a crushed Chrysler car have in common?
On Tuesday, 18 March, opera director and Artist-Curator Sjaron Minailo (Opera Forward Festival) will discuss the shift towards the visual arts in opera. He will illustrate this transformation using a number of significant examples.
This is part of
Details
Director
Matthew Barney
Production year
1997
Country
US
Original title
Cremaster 5
Length
54 min.
Language
Hungarian
Subtitles
ENG
Format
35mm
Part of
Eye on Art
Eye on Art is a programme on the intersection between film and other arts. Eye on Art keeps up with current events, with presentations on contemporary artists and programmes that coincide with important exhibitions, manifestations and Eye activities.
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