Drawing Restraint 9

To say that Matthew Barney is a visual artist is probably just as unnecessary as saying that Björk is a pop singer. Together, they form a celebrity duo that needs little introduction. It is not particularly newsworthy for visual artists to make films or for pop singers to act. But the scale and ambition of Barney’s undertakings in the field of film are of a special order (this film is also part of an oeuvre). Barney does indeed make film, not art video or modest art film. Modesty is not a word to be found in Barney’s vocabulary anyway, nor in that of co-writer and composer Björk. The form of Drawing Restraint 9 is also unusual. The film has the appeal of a feature and is also a documentary about an artistic ritual, a performance – even though this is specially conceived and performed for the film. Japan and everything that is or could be Japanese forms the main thread in this film, set largely on board the whaler Nisshin Maru. The ship is just as real as the crew, but the ritual performed on board is completely fictional. It is an occasionally bizarre mixture of elements from highly divergent areas of Japanese culture. One of the most striking parts is the preparation of a huge jelly on the ship’s deck. It is not clear why, but never mind. It is spectacular enough, anyway. (GjZ)

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