“I started playing American football to bump my head against someone else’s and see what it felt like” – Libération

The reflection around the aging body and the violence hyperpresent in American society was central to creating his video installation visible at the Cartier Foundation, “Secondary”, explains the artist.

Sitting on a sofa in a small living room, on the floors of the Fondation Cartier where he is exhibiting until September 8, Matthew Barney has the look and Zen attitude of those artists who know how to grant interviews, even sparingly. (it is), is part of the job. But the 57-year-old man is striking by the seriousness and concentration he puts into answering all the questions about his new installation. Secondary, without reciting a breviary that he would have learned by heart – American football, the violence of American society or the long period in which he places his work. Now this improvisation, partly controlled, resembles his works, suspended between rule and chance.

You yourself played American football, which is at the heart of your new video installation, Secondary. What did that give you?

I started young, a bit like all boys. It meant different things to me at different times. Initially, it was purely about energy: banging my head against someone else’s and seeing what it felt like. This feeling was my entry point, perverse, I realize. At that age, you have no idea what the effects are on your body.