Matthew Barney's "The Order" from Cremaster 3 is a simultaneously disturbing and extraordinarily beautiful piece. In this piece, the artist takes the familiar figure of the Scottish gaurd (complete with headpiece, tartan skirt and plaid socks) and transforms him into a grotesque persona. Ordinarily, these guards fade into the background of our imaginations as silent, stoic characters, but in this piece Barney makes the guard a bright, almost flamboyant figure. The artist seems to also be commenting on the guard's refusal to speak while on duty, stuffing a bloody handkerchief into the model's mouth. The artist perverts the concept of a valiant guard with his incorporation of bright, almost technicolor shades, and the fallen statue of the animal by his side disturbs the spectator even more. The artist draws his audience in by using beautiful color and composition and then he forces them to confront extremely gruesome imagery. Awesome!
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