{"id":46186,"date":"2000-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2000-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/archivos\/46186"},"modified":"2026-03-10T08:34:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T08:34:54","slug":"el-delirio-analisis-del-ultimo-filme-de-matthew-barney-drawing-restraint-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/el-delirio-analisis-del-ultimo-filme-de-matthew-barney-drawing-restraint-9\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEl delirio\u201d, an\u00e1lisis del \u00faltimo filme de Matthew Barney, Drawing Restraint 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

Autor:<\/strong> Vivianne Lor\u00eda<\/p>\n

Revista:<\/strong> L\u00c1PIZ Revista Internacional de Arte n\u00ba 219<\/p>\n\n

En diciembre, el Museo de Arte Contempor\u00e1neo de Castilla y Le\u00f3n (MUSAC) nos ofreci\u00f3 el estreno en Espa\u00f1a del \u00faltimo film de Matthew Barney, Drawing Restraint 9 <\/em>. La pel\u00edcula, cuyo lanzamiento mundial tuvo lugar en julio de 2005 en el 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art de Kanazawa, en Jap\u00f3n, ha sido exhibida en festivales de cine como los de Venecia y Toronto, delatando las \u00ednfulas del artista, que ha so\u00f1ado con impactar en el circuito cinematogr\u00e1fico. <\/p>\n

La \u201ctrama\u201d se desarrolla en un barco ballenero, en la Bah\u00eda de Nagasaki. El pr\u00f3logo nos muestra a una mujer japonesa preparando con f\u00f3siles de krill \u2013crust\u00e1ceo del que se alimentan las ballenas\u2013 dos preciosos paquetes. La c\u00e1mara viaja luego por encima de una boscosa cordillera para llegar a la moderna ciudad y a la bah\u00eda. Se desarrolla all\u00ed un desfile festivo encabezado por un cami\u00f3n cisterna que transporta la vaselina l\u00edquida con la que se llenar\u00e1 el contenedor de metal \u2013un perfil oblongo del que salen dos brazos\u2013 montado en la cubierta del ballenero. Bj\u00f6rk y Barney abordan el ballenero. Unas amas <\/em>[pie_1] se sumergen en el mar en busca de ostras y, en un entorno umbroso, una mujer, su espalda adornada con ristras de perlas que cuelgan de sus cabellos, toca un \u201csho\u201d, antiguo instrumento de origen chino (sheng). Bj\u00f6rk toma un ba\u00f1o, y Barney es rasurado por el barbero de a bordo. Los pescadores ensayan el lanzamiento de arpones, y dan cacer\u00eda a una piedra con forma de ballena. Mientras la vaselina se va solidificando dentro de su molde, los protagonistas, en una misma habitaci\u00f3n, separados por un biombo dorado, son vestidos con quimonos de pieles, para unirse luego en una boda sinto\u00edsta. La secuencia de la ceremonia del t\u00e9 sirve a un breve di\u00e1logo en el que el anfitri\u00f3n, un hombre mayor, explica el origen de la hierba utilizada y la historia del ballenero. En cubierta, la escultura de vaselina es diseccionada. Se desata entonces una tormenta. La escultura, despojada de su molde, va perdiendo consistencia. El agua y la vaselina inundan el barco. Los amantes, ya solos, comienzan a mutilarse mutuamente. Rodeados de vaselina y agua, se practican cortes en las piernas que remiten al seccionamiento del cuerpo de una ballena, con unos \u201cefectos especiales\u201d que degeneran en vulgar gore <\/em> de serie B. Como guinda de este desliz t\u00e9cnico, vemos c\u00f3mo debajo de la nuca de Bj\u00f6rk aparece un rid\u00edculo surtidor… Mientras, la piedra-ballena, que en cubierta fue objeto de otros ritos enigm\u00e1ticos, se deshace. Al final, el barco se adentra en las g\u00e9lidas aguas polares. Una estela a su alrededor sugiere la presencia de dos cet\u00e1ceos… \u00bflos amantes? Una ama <\/em> abre su boca, de la que salen perlas que caen al fondo del mar formando dos c\u00edrculos entrelazados. La plataforma de un muelle se resquebraja y se hunde. Este es el resumen de lo visto. <\/p>\n

Se supone que estamos ante una obra cinematogr\u00e1fica. Es decir, ante una trama, un argumento y un discurso. En ese sentido, ya desde que aparece el t\u00edtulo de la pel\u00edcula, sus letras simulando afiladas cuchillas que abren la piel de una ballena, parece que nos hall\u00e1ramos ante un indudable alegato ecologista. Es evidente: a nadie se le ocurrir\u00eda dignificar a estas alturas la caza de la ballena. Sin embargo \u2013y dejando de lado el ampuloso discurso sobre la restricci\u00f3n-liberaci\u00f3n que ha construido el artista en torno a la serie Drawing Restraint <\/em>\u2013, los datos \u201coficiales\u201d nos hablan de un homenaje a la cultura japonesa. <\/p>\n

Lo del homenaje se har\u00eda evidente ya en la introducci\u00f3n del film, cuando o\u00edmos la canci\u00f3n Gratitude <\/em>, cuya letra se ha tomado de las cartas enviadas en 1946 por ciudadanos japoneses al General Douglas McArthur para agradecer el levantamiento del veto a los barcos nipones en lo que refer\u00eda a la caza de la ballena en aguas ant\u00e1rticas. Esto ocurri\u00f3 poco m\u00e1s de un a\u00f1o despu\u00e9s de los bombardeos de Hiroshima y Nagasaki, y la alusi\u00f3n en Drawing Restraint 9 <\/em> significar\u00eda el reconocimiento al estoicismo japon\u00e9s ante la crueldad norteamericana… Pero, \u00bfde verdad ha pretendido Barney rendir homenaje a la cultura japonesa haciendo referencia a una de sus pr\u00e1cticas m\u00e1s detestables? <\/p>\n

El consumo de ballena se populariz\u00f3 en Jap\u00f3n durante e inmediatamente despu\u00e9s de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, pues era una fuente prote\u00ednica barata, pero este pa\u00eds ejerce gran presi\u00f3n a favor de la liberalizaci\u00f3n de la caza de estos cet\u00e1ceos desde el establecimiento de la moratoria internacional de esta actividad en 1986 aduciendo que el consumo de esta carne es uno de sus rasgos culturales ancestrales. De hecho, Jap\u00f3n parece ampararse en un acuerdo de 1987, que permite a sus barcos la caza de la ballena con \u201cfines cient\u00edficos\u201d, para llevar adelante un boyante negocio de cacer\u00eda clandestina. Como detalle sugestivo, tenemos la nacionalidad de Bj\u00f6rk, nacida en Islandia, pa\u00eds ballenero que abandon\u00f3 la Comisi\u00f3n Ballenera Internacional en 1992 como protesta por la moratoria. <\/p>\n

En resumen, es imposible permanecer indiferente ante la imagen de un ballenero. Algo ha de significar. Pero, \u00bfqu\u00e9 nos quiere contar Barney en ese sentido? \u00bfEs su fantas\u00eda cinematogr\u00e1fica, aparte de un fiasco formal \u2013como no sea por esas im\u00e1genes est\u00e1ticas reconvertidas en fotograf\u00edas de calidad aceptable\u2013, tambi\u00e9n un desprop\u00f3sito argumental? O bien este artista es pasmosamente simplista, y est\u00e1 ciego ante las implicaciones de los mimbres con los que ha tejido su obra, o bien su \u201ctributo\u201d a Jap\u00f3n \u2013realizado con el apoyo de uno de uno de los m\u00e1s llamativos museos nipones de arte contempor\u00e1neo, el de Kanazawa\u2013 es un caramelo envenenado. Un avieso navajazo digno de ovaci\u00f3n. <\/p>\n

DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 <\/p>\n

Delirium <\/h1>\n

Vivianne Lor\u00eda <\/p>\n

In December, the Museo de Arte Contempor\u00e1neo de Castilla y Le\u00f3n (MUSAC) premiered Matthew Barney’s latest film, Drawing Restraint 9 <\/em>, in Spain. The film, which was premiered worldwide in July 2005 at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, has been shown at film festivals like Venice and Toronto, exposing the artist’s airs, showing he has dreamt of making an impact in the cinematographic circuit. <\/p>\n

The \u201cplot\u201d unfolds on a whaling ship, at Nagasaki Bay. The prologue presents a Japanese woman preparing two delicately wrapped packages with krill fossils \u2013a crustacean whales feed on. The camera then travels above a wooded mountain range to reach the modern city and the bay. A festive parade is underway, headed by a tanker transporting the liquid Vaseline that will be used to fill the metal container assembled on the deck of the whaleboat. The shape of the mould represents Barney’s symbol: an oval shape bisected by a bar. Bj\u00f6rk and Barney board the whaler. In alternated images, Amas <\/em>[pie_2] dive into the sea searching for oysters and, in a shady setting, a woman, her back decorated with strings of pearls that hang from her hair, plays a \u201csho,\u201d an ancient Chinese instrument (sheng) that has been adopted by the Japanese culture. Bj\u00f6rk bathes, and Barney is groomed by the barber on board. The fishermen practice throwing harpoons, and catch a whale-shaped stone. Whilst the Vaseline solidifies in its mould, the main characters, in the same room but separated by a golden screen, are dressed ritually in fur kimonos, to then be united in a Shinto wedding. The tea ceremony sequence is used to construct a brief dialogue in which the host, an old man, explains the origin of the herb used and the history of the whaler. On the deck, the Vaseline sculpture is dissected. A storm breaks out. The sculpture, stripped of its metal mould, starts losing consistency. The water and the Vaseline flood the boat. The lovers, left alone, start to mutilate themselves mutually. Surrounded by Vaseline and water, they hack each other’s legs in actions that are reminiscent of cutting a whale’s body, with \u201cspecial effects\u201d that degenerate into vulgar B-series gore. To top this technical faux pas, we see how under the back of Bj\u00f6rk’s neck there is a ridiculous pump… Meanwhile, the stone-whale, which was used on the deck for other enigmatic rituals, disintegrates. In the end, the vessel enters the icy polar waters. A wake surrounds it suggesting the presence of two cetaceans… the lovers perhaps? An ama <\/em> opens her mouth and two pearls fall out, dropping to the bottom of the sea forming intertwined circles. The platform of a jetty cracks and sinks. This is the summary of what we watched. <\/p>\n

We were supposedly watching a cinematographic piece. That is to say, a plot, a story line and a discourse. In this sense, from the moment the title of the film appears on screen, with the letters simulating the sharp blades that slit the skin of the back of a whale, it seems as if we are contemplating an unquestionable environmentalist plea. Evidently: nobody would think of dignifying whale hunting at this point. Yet \u2013and without considering the pompous discourse on restriction-liberation the artist has constructed around the series Drawing Restraint <\/em>\u2013, the \u201cofficial\u201d information speaks of a tribute to Japanese culture. <\/p>\n

The tribute is made evident in the introduction to the film, when we hear the song Gratitude, <\/em> with lyrics taken from letters sent in 1946 by Japanese citizens to General Douglas McArthur in appreciation for lifting the veto on Japanese boats whaling in Antarctic waters. This took place slightly over one year after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and the reference in Drawing Restraint 9 would recognise Japanese stoicism in view of North American cruelty… Yet, did Barney really mean to pay tribute to the Japanese culture by referring to one of its most odious practices? <\/p>\n

The consumption of whale meat became popular in Japan during and immediately after World War II, since it was a cheap source of protein. Nevertheless, this country has been exerting major pressure in favour of the liberalisation of whaling since the establishment of the international moratorium on this activity in 1986, adducing that the consumption of this meat is one of their ancestral cultural characteristics. In fact, Japan seems to seek protection in an agreement from 1987, which allows whaling for \u201cscientific purposes,\u201d to carry out a buoyant business of clandestine hunting. Bj\u00f6rk’s nationality is a curious detail: she was born in Iceland, a country that practices whaling and that abandoned the International Whaling Commission in 1992 in protest against the moratorium. <\/p>\n

Summarising, it is impossible to remain indifferent to the image of a whaler. It must mean something. Yet, what is Barney trying to tell us? Is his cinematographic fantasy, apart from a formal fiasco \u2013except for those static images turned into acceptable photographs\u2013, also an absurdity from the perspective of the plot? Either this artist is incredibly simplistic, and is blind to the implications of the wicker with which he has woven his work, or his \u201ctribute\u201d to Japan \u2013carried out with the support of one of the most salient Japanese contemporary art museums, the Kanazawa museum\u2013 is a poisoned sweet. A malicious knife wound that is worthy of ovation. <\/p>\n

Translation: Laura F. Farhall <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Autor: Vivianne Lor\u00eda Revista: L\u00c1PIZ Revista Internacional de Arte n\u00ba 219 En diciembre, el Museo de Arte Contempor\u00e1neo de Castilla y Le\u00f3n (MUSAC) nos ofreci\u00f3 el estreno en Espa\u00f1a del \u00faltimo film de Matthew Barney, Drawing Restraint 9 . La pel\u00edcula, cuyo lanzamiento mundial tuvo lugar en julio de 2005 en el 21st Century Museum […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[444,351,400],"class_list":["post-46186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articulos","tag-arte","tag-articulo-html","tag-lapiz-revista-internacional-de-arte"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46186"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48411,"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46186\/revisions\/48411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/formacionsimple.com\/revistasculturales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}