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Cat's Reviews > Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle

Matthew Barney by Neville Wakefield
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it was amazing
bookshelves: art

I travelled from San Diego to New York to see all five of the films in sequence, and picked up this book while there. The Cremaster cycle is pregnant with ambiguous meaning (the point of art, nowadays) so this book is, in my opinion, the only way to gain a comprehensive perspective on the work. Other useful features of this book is an illustrated essay of Barney's work, a "Cremaster Glossary"(less useful) and an essay on the meaning of Cremaster. I won't discuss the substance of that essay, but it is useful, if only to orient yourself to the imagery.
Perhaps because I got to see all five films in sequence and then had an opportunity to review the book afterwards, I don't think Cremaster is all that difficult to understand. Part of the problem is that he is engaged in fomenting ambiguity. I do believe that is possible to extract signifgant meanings from the Cremaster cycle. Might be a good idea to buy this in paperback if you actually want to paw through it with your dirty mitts.
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Reading Progress

Started Reading
August 1, 2003 – Finished Reading
August 22, 2007 – Shelved
August 22, 2007 – Shelved as: art

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Dennis Wade When you say "in sequence" did you mean 1,2,3,4,5 or chronologically by creation 4,1,5,2,3? if viewed in the latter, the drastic increase in production value is crystal clear. I agree that the Cremaster Cycle is not that difficult to comprehend despite the frustration or dismissive confusion I've seen on some of its viewers faces. Yet there is so much to this piece that when put through the critiquing process the work explodes with a potential multitude of creative interpretations. I extensively enjoyed applying iconographic theory.
P.S. if this was in paperback it would feel like a pricey hustler mag


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