Matthew Barney–Cremaster V

The fifth episode in Matthew Barney's five part video/film series opened
in San Francisco and Seattle this past week. I was able to watch
Cremaster V in both cities and had the chance to speak with Mr. Barney
about the Cremaster project in general and Cremaster V in particular.

Cremaster V is a 35mm film. It was projected in a small rep. theatre in
Seattle and the SFMOMA's screening room in San Francisco. In conjunction
with the film, Barney has produced books of still photography and text
related to the film and a CD of the film's music. The soundtrack was
composed by Jonathan Bepler and performed by the Budapest Opera and
Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Cremaster series uses the biological process of sexual
differentation of the human embryo as a narrative structure. This
structure is wonderfully explained by Jerry Saltz in Art in America
(October 1996) in a review of Barney's work that includes Cremaster IV
and Cremaster I.

In Cremaster IV, the mapping of characters to functional elements in the
biological process is more literal than the mapping that occurs in
Cremaster V. This was an interesting choice for Barney, who does not
give up the narrative structure of the process of embryogenisis, but
moves the narrative one step higher to use that structure as a way to
discuss the more general process of differentation of any system set in
motion. For this reason, the interaction between the characters in
Cremaster V starts to operate on a strange human-to-human level,
exploring some of these other systems.

Barney explained this in relation to the two main characters: the Queen
of Chain and her diva/giant/magician. The Queen of Chain is played by
Ursula Andress. Barney plays the three forms of her opposing character.
Matthew Barney explained the human interaction between the characters as
a mis-understanding on the part of the Queen regarding the actions of
her diva/giant/magician. She sees the diva/giant/magician's actions as
betrayals, when in Barney's mind they are not.

Matthew Barney uses the process of differentation as a structure for his
narrative while simultaneously moving beyond that narrative to deal with
the moment of differentataion in any system. This seems in keeping with
the approach of artists such as Marcel Duchamp or Bruce Nauman, who
create systems to demonstrate the processes of transformation that occur
when information or objects become art.

Two of the three forms of Barney's character in Cremaster V attempt to
stay in a moment of non-differentation. The Magician holds balls in his
hands and feet. These two sets of spheres are kept from moving apart by
a white chain. Much of the Magician's actions take place on a bridge
over the river separating Budda and Pest (as in Budapest). He chooses
not to cross the bridge, but to fall into the water remaining locked
together, undifferentiated. The Magician's character is based loosely on
Harry Houdini. Barney explained that Houdini worked with an advanced
understanding of the human body, that no one else at that time could
match. Similarly, Barney cast Ursula Andress as the Queen of Chain
because he believes she has a special ability to represent the human
body in our contemporary culture, on account of her appearance in the
James Bond film Dr. No.

The Diva also chooses not to differentiate. The character of the diva is
based on two images: a photograph of Henry Rollins signing for Black
Flag and a Northern European painting of a man leaning on one hip with a
cane, holding one hand out and to his side. Those two images bookended
the options for the diva. The diva could either face towards or away
from the viewer. The diva tries very hard to not make this choice and
stay looking sideways. Ultimately, this leaves the diva with nowhere to
go but to crash down onto the stage. A close-up reveals the diva's
exploded head flopping towards the audience.

The Giant, however, may have differentiated. It is in these scenes that
the Queen's sense of misunderstanding emerges.

Regardless, Barney does not see Cremaster V as a definite end to a
linear narrative, but rather something that comes dangerously close to
differentation, and then provides a way back towards a beginning found
in his earlier work. Pointing to the film, he cites the drop that falls
from the Queen of Chain and splits in mid air. Rather than seeing that
splitting drop as an example of differentation, Barney sees it as a dual
ending, where part goes to the end, and part goes back to the beginning.