So I’m sitting here watching The Cremaster Cycle.
A brief summary: The Cremaster Cycle is a series of films by Matthew Barney (best known for being crazy musician Bjork’s crazy baby-daddy). They are five films made over eight years that are full of symbolism about balls. Seriously. The cremaster muscle is the one that covers the testicles, causing them to raise and lower in response to temperature. The first film is supposed to represent the most ascended or least differentiated state, while the fifth is supposed to represent the most descended or most differentiated state. Supposedly it’s a metaphor for the creative process. Either way, it’s lavish and impressive with the visuals, sparse with the dialogue,l and hard to follow with regard to the narrative.
I just watched C1 and wanted to share with you what I think so far:
Everything looks like balls. There is a football field where a bunch of dancers do choreography, and they all hold balloons. The balloons look like balls. In the air float two Goodyear blimps, and as they sit side by side, the blimps look like balls. In the blimps are a bunch of women around a table, and the table is full of grapes, which look like balls.
Now, maybe because I know about the films’ thesis so to speak, I am projecting. Even things that don’t really look like balls sort of look like balls to me. There is a centerpiece on the table that is made out of vaseline, and the centerpiece makes me THINK of balls, even if it doesn’t necessarily look like balls. The windows in the blimps are oval-shaped, but when the camera lingers on them, I think of balls. Everything. Is. Balls.
Below is an image from the first movie, in which this weird chick arranges the grapes into one of the film’s recurring symbols. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be, but I’m assuming it has something to do with balls.
Update: I’m watching C2 now, and things have gotten considerably more fucked up. We are beyond grapes in blimps, and moving on to graphic sex and bees.
Tags: balls, Bjork, Cremaster 1, Cremaster Cycle, cremaster muscle, Matthew Barney
