Redoubt (2019) review

For this video project, Barney 'borrows' the myth of Diana and Actaeon in Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses and teleports it to the snowy Sawtooth Range of Idaho: he plays a version of Actaeon, making etchings on copper plates while Diana (played by Anette Wachter, who's a member of the U.S. National Rifle Team and way too chummy with the NRA) along with her two "virgin" assistants (Eleanor Bauer and Laura Stokes) go on a total of six "hunts" to eradicate pesky wolves.  While smaller in scope than two of his most notable projects - The Cremaster Cycle and River of Fundament - it clearly plays into his own personal history, having lived in Boise for many of his formative years and being familiar with the controversial practice of reintroducing our furry (but vicious) lupine friends into the area, and adding to it his fascination with performing rituals, from cleaning a pistol to electroplating to dancing in both the snow or with hula hoops (the latter by choreographer Sandra Lamouche).  Those unfamiliar with the artist's past work may be put off by the symbolism and esoteric references (metallurgy? the male gaze? regurgitating honey into the barrel of a rifle and then stuffing human hair into it?), but I still find the totally serious self-absorption with "world building" to be deeply admirable: he's folded into himself tighter than any piece of origami. [Rating Not Applicable]