Matthew Barney: Cremaster 4
Commissioned and produced by Artangel in 1994
Screened at The Metro, Rupert St London W1
9 - 14 May 1995
Photograph: Michael James O'Brien © Matthew Barney
Eschewing chronological order, Cremaster 4 was first to be produced in Matthew Barney's five-part film project The Cremaster Cycle. Produced in 1994, the film was screened in London the following year and was accompanied by the installation of Barney's work OTTOShaft at the Art Now room at the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain).
Cremaster 4 was acclaimed as one of the most ambitious artist's films of its time. Filmed on the Isle of Man, artist and film-maker Matthew Barney created a drama of competing, compulsive forces coursing through the body of the island and the famous 37 mile TT track.
Barney himself played the Loughton Candidate, an immaculately dressed satyr who tap dances and writhes though the underwater canals of the Isle of Man while three fairies picnic on the grass above. Acting as both site and dreamscape, the island race propels the bikers and the satyr through the Manx landscape to an ambient soundtrack of bagpipes and motorbikes. Like the heroes of medieval tales or futuristic film, they appear as expressions of pure drive and desire
The cycle would be completed in 2002 with Cremaster 3. The full set of films and a sculptural work - Cremaster Field - were presented by Artangel at the Ritzy cinema in London later that year.
To watch the full Cremaster Cycle trailer and read details about all of the films, please see cremaster.net.
Commissioned and produced by Artangel & Matthew Barney in association with Foundation Cartier and the Barbara Gladstone Gallery.
