These images hint at the astonishing thematic range that Barney's films engage. The central panel of this triptych pictures a giant who legendarily built a causeway in northern Ireland the green expanse surrounding him foils the urban scale of the rest of the film, which tracks the construction of the Chrysler Building. Cremaster 3, actually the last film to be made, starts with a prologue of Celtic fable, adding the weight of mythology to Barney's sweeping narrative. This triptych features a scene from its final moments, in which the magician and the woman who may be Gilmore's future grandmother perform a two step in a dance hall, the lonely fragility of their union emphasized by a starkly illuminated setting and a plunging depth of field. Cremaster 2 alternates between and interweaves the stories of Gary Gilmore and Harry Houdini (who may have been the murderer's grandfather). The sense of collectivity relayed by this synchronic group begins to break down in Barney's second film. Played by performer Marti Domination, her swanlike pallor cuts a striking figure against the formation of Rockettes-like dancers and the blue turf of the athletic arena. Goodyear directs a choral revue on the field of the Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho, Barney's hometown. These works picture pivotal moments from three of Matthew Barney's five feature-length Cremaster films, which he wrote and directed between 19.

Barney matthew