ART CITIES:Hobart-Matthew Barney

 

Matthew Barney’s River of Fundament, is based on Norman Mailer’s Ancient Evenings, based on the Egyptian Book of the Dead, it is a collection of chapters made up of magic spells and formulas. It was illustrated and written on papyrus. The text was intended to be read by the deceased during their journey into the Underworld. It enabled the deceased to overcome obstacles and not lose their way. It did this by teaching passwords, giving clues, and revealing routes that would allow the deceased to answer questions and navigate around hazards.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: MONA Archive

Mailer approached Matthew Barney in the dappled glare of Ancient Evenings’ critical reception. Mailer asked Barney to read Ancient Evenings, at least the first one hundred pages, perhaps he envisioned a film adaptation that would consecrate the novel in the manner it deserved. In truth, Mailer had already worked with Barney on Cremaster 2, part of the cycle of films that made Barney famous. River of Fundament. The film – a three-act opera in seven parts, to mirror the seven soul states of death in ancient Egyptian mythology – is a part-documentary of performances that took place in Los Angeles, Detroit, and New York City between 2007 and 2013. In each performance, the human protagonist from Ancient Evenings is replaced with the body of a car (a Chrysler Imperial, a Pontiac Trans American, and a Crown Victoria) of significance to American industrial history. Over the course of the opera, the car-bodies are destroyed in wildly imaginative ways, what you see on display in the exhibition are the condensed, desecrated car-corpses from the live performances, as well as a selection of sculptures, drawings and art crafts from Mona’s own collection of ancient Egypt.

Info: Mona (Museum of Old and New Art), 655 Main Road, Berriedale, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Duration: 22/11/14-23/4/15, Days: Wed-Mon, Hours: 6/10/14-27/4/15: 10:00-18:00, 29/4-30/11/15: 10:00-17:00, www.mona.net.au