CREMASTER 1 (1995) is a musical revue performed on the blue Astroturf playing field of Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho—Barney's hometown. Two Goodyear Blimps float above the arena, each tended by four air hostesses. In the middle of each cabin interior sits a white-clothed table, its top decorated with an abstract centerpiece sculpted from Vaseline and surrounded by clusters of grapes. In one blimp the grapes are green, in the other they are purple. Under both of these otherwise identical tables resides Goodyear (played by Marti Domination). Inhabiting both blimps simultaneously, this doubled creature sets the narrative in motion. After prying an opening in the tablecloth(s) above her head, she plucks grapes from their stems and pulls them down into her cell. With these grapes, Goodyear produces diagrams that direct the choreographic patterns created by a troupe of dancing girls on the field below. The camera switches back and forth between Goodyear's drawings and aerial views of the chorus girls moving into formation: their designs shift from parallel lines to the figure of a barbell, from a large circle to an outline of splitting and multiplying cells, and from a horizontally divided field emblem (Barney's signature motif) to an undifferentiated reproductive system (which marks the first six weeks of fetal development). Gliding in time to the musical score, the chorus girls delineate the contours of a still-androgynous gonadal structure, which echoes the shapes of the two blimps overhead and symbolizes a state of pure potential.
—Nancy Spector
CREMASTER 1: The Goodyear Waltz, 1995 (detail)
1 C-print and 8 gelatin-silver prints in self-lubricating plastic frames
C-print: 33 3/4 x 27 1/2 x 1 inches; gelatin-silver prints:
25 1/4 x 21 1/2 x 1 inches each
Edition of 3, 2 A.P.
Photo by Michael James O'Brien
© Matthew Barney, courtesy Barbara Gladstone Gallery
CREMASTER 1: Red Lounge Manual, 1995
1 of 3 gelatin-silver prints in self-lubricating plastic frames (shown unframed)
Center: 20 1/2 x 16 1/2 x 1 inches; left and right:
22 x 26 1/2 x 1 inches each
Edition of 3, 1 A.P.
Photo by Michael James O'Brien
© Matthew Barney, courtesy Barbara Gladstone Gallery
Cremaster Suite, 1994–2002
1 of 5 C-prints in self-lubricating plastic frames (shown unframed)
45 1/4 x 35 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches each
Edition of 10, 2 A.P.
Photo by Michael James O'Brien
© Matthew Barney, courtesy Barbara Gladstone Gallery
Goodyear Field, 1996
Self-lubricating plastic, prosthetic plastic, petroleum jelly, silicone, Astroturf, pearlescent vinyl, cast tapioca, cast polyester, polyester ribbon, costume pearls, speculae, and Pyrex
54 x 268 x 324 inches overall
Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation. On permanent loan to Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel
© Matthew Barney, courtesy Barbara Gladstone Gallery
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