Mathew Barney's Cremaster Cycles... any news??
 

so... any news on this? palm pictures was supposed to put it out last year, but that was even before their movie tour. i think the movie tour is wrapped up. i really hope we can get these on dvd's in the not-too-distant future.

[I started a new thread because the others were about a year old. I didn't want you to have to read through year-old posts to find the question]

From Palm Pictures website:
NOTE: There are no plans to release the complete Cremaster Cycle on DVD at this time.

http://www.palmpictures.com/videos/t...remaster3.html

Which doesn't really surprise me. Some time ago, I spoke to a friend who used to work in a NYC gallery and asked him if the cycle would ever be fully released. His response was, "No." If it was, it would be an exorbinant amount, seeing as how one is technically buying a piece of art. It would also cut out the ability for a museum to create a priceless and unique installation if everyone could just get it on Amazon.

But my friend could also be full of shit. Most of those gallery people seem to be anyways. But don't tell him I said that.

As a side story, the very same friend inadvertently insulted Matthew Barney at a lecture one time. The lecture was moderated by the head of Princeton's Art History Department, if I remember correctly, who sought out my friend after the lecture and admonished him. He called me up to tell me, but I didn't know who Matthew Barney was at the time so it didn't really seem like that big of a deal.

P.S. I'm sure people wouldn't really mind.

Even though this guy and his movies sound extremely pretentious, I'd still really like to see them just to see if they could possibly live up to the wild descriptions. :lol: I read some reviews on them before and I find it hard to imagine how all that would even work on screen.

While your friend my not be "full of shit", his reasoning is. First of all, the cycle is available on film and has been shown around the world (sometimes as part of the installation and sometimes not). Installations are just that, and releasing the films is something else (minus the installation). Besides, the cylce released on DVD would only enhance the possibilities of touring the installation again. They certainly wouldn't lose any money. More than likely, they would make more if they released them. All of the Cirque du Soleil DVD releases certainly haven't stopped them from touring and bringing in more folks to see their "installation".

If you haven't already, check out The Order: From Cremaster 3. That should answer your question.

The movies are available on DVD, they're just limited editions that sell to collectors for hundreds of dollars. This may be at least part of the reason Barney is in no hurry to make these commercially available.

I was holding out for the entire set, but then seeing on the Palm web site that there were no plans on releasing all the films, I decided to go ahead and get the Order. I was a bit disapointed to see that it is not the entire Order, but only the shots in the Gugenheim. Still, I am glad to own it.