Matthew Barney Smurfs Some Students

POST BY PADDY JOHNSON AND JULIA HALPERIN

Left: from “Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle Catalogue, The Guggenheim Museum”; Right: via Odditycentral

AFC may be the first to ask: Is there an existential connection between Smurfs and Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle?  If last month’s photos from the world’s largest Smurf meeting in Wales are any indication, the answer is yes.  They bear a striking resemblance to Barney’s Cremaster stills.

The title for the largest Smurf gathering went to 2,510 students from Swansea University on June 8th and is apparently highly prized; there have been five world record attempts in the last two years.  Although neither white hat-wearing party could have anticipated the comparison, they share a campy, surreal aesthetic and smiles that border on creepy.  While the students may hold the world record for largest Smurf gathering, Barney clearly bests them in the disturbing category.  When Smurfs start shitting calcified fleshy digestions of cars from orifices resembling an anus, they may have a fighting chance.

Left: via Odditycentral; Right: from “Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle Catalogue, The Guggenheim Museum”

From “Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle Catalogue, The Guggenheim Museum”

From “Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle Catalogue, The Guggenheim Museum”

From “Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle Catalogue, The Guggenheim Museum”

Via Odditycentral

Via Odditycentral