Cremaster 1 & 2

Wednesday, May 19 - Thursday, June 10, 2010

CREMASTER 1 (1995, 40 min.)

A musical revue performed on the blue Astroturf playing field of Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho – Matthew Barney’s hometown. Two Goodyear blimps float overhead and chorus girls on the field glide in time to the musical score. Cremaster 1 symbolizes a still-androgynous sexuality, a state of pure potential. Features Marti Domination as Goodyear.

CREMASTER 2 (1999, 79 min.)

A gothic Western that introduces conflict into the system. On the biological level it corresponds to the phase of fetal development during which sexual division begins. In Barney’s abstraction, the system resists partition and tries to remain in the state of equilibrium imagined in Cremaster 1. Cremaster 2 embodies this regressive impulse through its looping narrative, shifting from 1977, the year of Gary Gilmore’s execution, to 1893 when Harry Houdini, who may have been Gilmore’s grandfather, performed at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Features Norman Mailer as Houdini and Matthew Barney as Gilmore.

• Director Matthew Barney

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.