Cremaster 3

In "Cremaster 3", part of a series of art films created by Matthew Barney, the artist utilizes a series of dreamlike, seemingly vague allusions to institutions and ideologies in society whose operation or existence depend largely on ritual. As Barney himself scales the walls of the Guggenheim museum in elaborate costume, ascending the winding gallery space by literally climbing up between floors, the protagonist encounters settings and situations which seem to be continually reenacting the process of sexual differentiation, both on the physical and mental level, dramatizing the process and ritualizing it through the use of very specific choreography, and ornate and deeply symbolic costumes and set design. Some of the most disturbing but also thought-provoking scenes centrally figure a woman amputated from the knees down. While discomforting, I think this choice, the film, and this image all seem to be begging the question of what it means to be "whole" or "complete" in society, and how the process of attaining this goal of 'completion' often turns into a ritualistic repetition of acts, gestures or appearances which are largely culturally dictated.

Alex Arruda