About

Drawing Restraint 9 will screen from a 35mm print.

American visual artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney works across the disciplines of sculpture, drawing, photography, and performance to create films and installations that merge mythology, symbolism, and the body to challenge ideas of failure and conflict.

Set on board a Japanese whaling ship, the feature film Drawing Restraint 9 (whose title is a continuation of an ongoing series of works by Barney that challenge the limits of the human form), features Barney and his then partner, musician Björk, as two visitors who are slowly transformed into sea creatures as they participate in a ritualistic marriage ceremony.

As is characteristic of Barney’s films, including the pivotal film series The Cremaster Cycle 1994–2002, the film explores themes of transformation and sacrifice to examine and interrogate the relationship between humans and the natural world. A visual spectacle that moves effortlessly between beauty and gore, the intricate costumes, set design and special effects create an immersive cinematic world, further enhanced by the film’s haunting soundtrack, composed by Bjork.

MA15+ | Contains infrequent strong disturbing imagery