The definitive user's guide and then some to Matthew Barney's epic five-part epic film series, The Cremaster Cycle is filled with hundreds of Barney's fantastical images and surveys the project, which uses the biological model of sexual difference as its conceptual departure point. Three essays by Barney experts articulate the series' diverse themes and explore the artist's innovative aesthetic vocabulary; interviews with key collaborators, a composer, costume designer, make-up artist, technicians and actors reveal his working process. A trailblazing essay by Curator of Contemporary Art Nancy Spector charts Barney's work from the 1990s to the present and provides critical insights into the aesthetic vocabulary of his five Cremaster films, while Neville Wakefield's "Cremaster Glossary" illuminates the films' most far-flung references with citations from sources as diverse as Freud's psychoanalytic studies, Mormon law and lore, and hardcore music fanzines. In addition to stills from the five films--including the final episode, Cremaster 3--the book features related sculptures, photographs, drawings and storyboards. For anyone intrigued by the Wagner of contemporary art, this is an atlas to his enticingly hypnotic worlds. Barney himself collaborated on all aspects of this extraordinary publication, including the selection of over 700 images, most of them never before published.
 Sell Back Your Copy for $24.21
Whether you buy it used on Amazon for $174.87 or somewhere else, you can sell it back through our Book Trade-In Program at the current price of $24.21.
Used Price$174.87
Trade-in Price$24.21
Price after
Trade-in$150.66 |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"The most important American artist of his generation." -- Michael Kimmelman, The New York Times Magazine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Key to Exploring & Understanding Barney's work,
By "greg-dot-org" (new york, new york USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (Hardcover)
The challenges of SEEING (much less remembering and understanding) Barney's Cremaster films are not insignificant: 1) They show very rarely (and rarely together or in sequence). 2) Some of them (like Cremaster 3) are so LOOONG even diehard fans can nod off to sleep. 3) Their linear, sequential nature means you can't jump back and forth between them to make connections. 4) Unless you're a Barney junkie, you didn't even SEE a couple of the films yet. 5) Unless you go to the 2002 museum exhibition or you're on dealer Barbara Gladstone's speed dial, you've never seen more than one of Barney's sculptures at a time. So unless you have a photographic memory (and dedicate it to the service of Matthew Barney), it's extraordinarily difficult to build more than impressionistic understanding of this body of work. This book solves that challenge. It's comprehensive documentation of ALL the films, their production, inspiration and symbolic elements make in an indispensable tool, a Rosetta stone, maybe, for gaining an overall perspective of Barney's vision. Whether the artist intends it or not, for better or worse, this book will become THE MAIN SOURCE through which people will encounter his work.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top Notch(s),
By joshua erkman (los angeles, ca United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (Hardcover)
A truly wonderful book for anyone minorly interested in mr. barney's work. I could not have asked for a better printed compilation of these films. The price is extremely reasonable, and for anyone that has attempted to see the films/books of the first 3 films made, it is a treat to see these rarely seen images. cremasters 1,4,and 5 are out of print and the films are only available to art collectors in limited edition laserdiscs, or to view upon there original release. The essays are comprehensive of barney's earlier work and the cremaster cycle, and offer explanations and information that links together this mysterious series of films. Also included in this edition are many interesting interviews with collaborators/crew of the 5 films. the book is divided as follows: two very nice essays on barney's work and the films, each film is then given it's own section which are divided by arc-like cut outs, much like a dictionary or bible, but larger. there is a glossary of terms and concepts that the films deal with, and then the interviews. All of the images are printed very well and the over all presentation (white cloth book mark included) is top notch. this allows for the average joe with not much dough to have access to these films.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous.,
By
This review is from: Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (Hardcover)
Nancy Spector, Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (Guggenheim, 2002)
Nancy Spector's tome may just have been meant as an accoutrement to the Guggenheim's massive Barney exhibition in 2002, but as an accoutrement, it stands out. Not only in its physical dimensions (Amazon's website says the shipping weight of this book is 8.6 pounds, but after lugging it around for six weeks, I'm willing to put money on the idea that it's closer to twenty-five; it's over a foot tall, and easily as thick as one of the larger volumes of the unabridged OED), but in the concept itself. Spector's essay on Barney takes up the first ninety-two pages, after which comes a glossary of Cremaster terms that reads better than any other glossary you've ever read (think of The Dictionary of the Khazars to get an idea, but using all terms that relate to the Cremaster cycle). Then, of course, the photographs. Mostly video and production stills from the films, but also photos of pieces of Barney's original sketches and storyboard, the sculptures made after the films, and other wonderful little oddities. Good stuff, and a must-have for any Barney fan. Those who have just heard the name, but not seen the films, will get an excellent overview of what you've managed to miss. Those who have no idea who Matthew Barney is, check it out to see what all the fuss is about. In other words, you want this. ****
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
So You'd Like to...
|
|
