Comments on: The Genius of Matthew Barney

By: GHD Sale

GHD Sale — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:52:25 +0000

Thought I’d comment and say cool theme, did you build it on your own? It really is really really superior!

By: Miembroman

Miembroman — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:37:42 +0000

Fake poo? But the poo wasn’t fake!

By: Accurupture

Accurupture — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:07:10 +0000

Thanks Zarka for filling the gaps… We had the impression that MB in fact had replaced the blue chemicals normally used in these portacabin toilets with something like Lucozade or another blue soft drink (we had dinner at the Pollo Loco oposite the place of action and their blue drink smelled just as horrible: The smell of burned car parts + crashed septic tank upon re-entering the showroom was nasty.)
A good description of the evening can be found on artforum.com
For those lucky enough to have seen ‘Guardian of the Veil’ the precursor to this series, either at the NY try-out or in the Manchester Festival as part of ‘Il Tempo del Postino’, there were many obvious links.
The number of people claiming to have been at both performances is said to be on the rise too. Sister Wolf, grab your chance.

By: Sister Wolf

Sister Wolf — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:13:34 +0000

Jesus H. Christ.

Okay, Accurupture. I plan to say I was there too, if anyone ever asks.

Zarka, I believe you are not making this up. In which case, I give myself a nice round of applause for intuiting that the ‘piece’ was about shit. This in turn reminds me of The Magic Christian by the great Terry Southern.

The part about provoking the audience reminds me of the movie “Hi Mom”, in which a theater group of African Americans gets some white people to submit to emotional abuse, in the name of Art.

MB is clearly a huckster to be respected on that basis. If he is an artist, I have some menstrual shrouds to sell to him.

By: jackson

jackson — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:00:26 +0000

the sphere was a septic tank attached the the porta-potty shoved into the back of the imperial

By: Zarka

Zarka — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:52:26 +0000

One other thing, I think the people standing on cars to get a better view was also one of those things that was intended by the artists, as there were boxes available to help people step up onto the trunks, giving me an even stronger feeling that the audience was a very important part of the performance, passively watching others do work, actively helping the world go to shit.

The only active things the audience did were eat (roach coaches, remember?), shit, watch the spectacle of ‘slave’ labor and stand on cars, crumpling their roofs. In summary, all the people did was participate in processes of decay, which was the major theme stated at the beginning. Having us walk through piss and shit (though fake) was, I think, a statement about how we actively degrade ourselves.

By: Zarka

Zarka — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:04:32 +0000

I was there too, and I am disappointed that no one has yet commented on the contents of the giant sphere being towed behind the car. It was full of that blue water that they put in porta johns, and several dozen floating brown lumps of fake poo. I was astonished at the number of people that walked through the piss and shit water in sandals and flip flops (the awfully derivative speech at the beginning was about how we’re all just shit and will become shit, also not mentioned in the LA Times piece). FLIP FLOPS through a wet room full of shredded metal and plastic! We were told to wear sturdy shoes in the invitation.

I was also disappointed that little was mentioned about the roach coaches and the horrid state of the real porta johns. I think that the audience was very much part of the performance in this piece. The toilets were all filled with paper so as to be nearly unusable, and I think this was intended. Either that, or this was the most inept crowd at using porta johns in the world.

As the “slaves” pulled the car while dozens of onlookers stared, I felt the strongest urge to help, and wondered if my emotional reaction to watching slave labor wasn’t also intended as part of the performance: it was hot and nasty, and these guys were working hard, and here we all were standing around watching them work. I wanted to just say “Hey everybody, they need help, let’s get in there and help them out!”

When the mechanic (Barney?) pulled the plastic shroud out of the woman’s ass, that was precious.

By: Accurupture

Accurupture — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:16:14 +0000

no satire here Sister Wolf. Me to I don’t think he’s yummy, and I’m rather critical of muh of M.B.’s work but this was a highlight.

Somewhat surprised only a local newspaper and your blog have any info about the show, perhaps M.B.’s gallery is adding to the myth by keeping low profile about what was by all accounts a major production. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the rest of my life I’ll meet over 800 people who will claim to be among the 400 people who saw this.

By: Lady K

Lady K — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:26:21 +0000

enc – thanks for the tip, have done so and also added your blog too!

By: Sister Wolf

Sister Wolf — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:55:50 +0000

Accurupture, are you being satirical? If you got through Mailer’s Ancient Evenings, you are impervious to pain.

Lady K, thank you for liking godammit.com! There’s a thingy at the bottom of the page where you can sign up for notices, but that’s all I know about tech stuff.

Mark, please, he isn’t yummy one bit.