Burden began his career as an avant-garde performance artist. In 1971’s “Five Day Locker,” he locked himself in a traditional school locker for five days. Later that same year, for “Shoot” -- also captured on film -- Burden had a friend shoot him in the arm. For “Trans-Fixed” in 1974, the artist evoked the crucifixion of Jesus when he lay on top of a Volkswagen Beetle and had nails driven into his hands.The linked obituary says that Burden was best known for an installation of a large number of street lamps in front of Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I guess the obituarist wasn't around in the 70s!
"Shoot" and "Trans-Fixed" were the ultimate in performance art, continually cited and (I would have thought) never to be forgotten. But sic transit performance art. Put a buncha lamposts in front of a museum in a big city where everyone will see them and want to take selfies and that's what you're famous for. He made ordinary people feel nice. Noted.
Forget about how you meant to deeply disturb us lo those many years ago.
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Sounds like the perfect intersection of pretension and mental illness.
Those lampposts are about as artful as the salvage area of the DWP. With them in the front, and that stupid huge rock in the back, LACMA is surrounded by the worst possible representations of modern art. Pathetic. Nailing himself to a car seems Picasso-esque in comparison.
Oh my Gaia! I hope those lampposts are solar powered.
I prefer performers over "performance artists" for the same reason I prefer "reporters" over "journalists."
The shooting, when it happened, generated a lot of publicity. Then it was forgotten. So you can say his art wasn't all that memorable.
It's a very fine line between Chris Burden, performance artist, and Steve-O, Jackass.
I meet crazy people every day. Why should I remember this one?
kzookitty
Performance art sucks. Our art in general sucks. I can't remember the last time any modern artist impressed me.
Apparently, our artists need to suffer more.
I regard "performance artists" as little different from "grafitti artists". Their actions scream "Look at me and my art!" like a child.
Both are worthless POS.
Saw a show of his in Boston where when one walked into the exhibit the turn gate pushed against the walls of the museum. An original gutsy artist.
The University of Texas recently installed, at great expense in public money, an art piece called "Canoe" consisting of about 18 aluminum canoes cabled together up in the air.
Art is in many cases public fraud using variations of "the emperor has no clothes" scam.
How do you get paid for taking a bullet in the arm?
Burden was influenced by the great work of this man.
EDH said...
It's a very fine line between Chris Burden, performance artist, and Steve-O, Jackass.
5/11/15, 9:35 AM
LMAO! Perfect comparison.
I'm always surprised to hear about performance artists just sort of dying.
He had cancer, and it took a year and a half to kill him. He knew the end was coming. And he was the kind of man who would have himself shot in the arm to make a splash.
How does he not turn his death into performance art?
OK folks, I can definitely put aside an artist's more questionable artworks in favor of appraising the merits of just one.
The genius and magic of "Urban Light" is in its success as mesmerizing PUBLIC art - we believe anyone who actually visits it, walks among it, can't but "FEEL" this to be so.
K. M. Williamson, Director
Public Art in Public Places
www.PublicArtinPublicPlaces.info
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