Tentatively, Convenience's Reviews > Chris Burden

It seems slightly strange to me now that the 1st time I can remember encountering Chris Burden was way back in November of 1975 when he presented his "Working Artist" piece at U.M.B.C.. At the time, there was the usual sensationalized (& anti-intellectual) flak about him in the press - calling him the "Death Artist" b/c he'd gotten well-known for performances where he'd endangered or hurt himself. I don't recall how much I knew about him at the time. I do recall attending a lecture he gave at U.M.B.C. where he likened himself, & perhaps others exploring body art & the like, to being a scientist, a cutting edge scientist - perhaps a nuclear physicist. Someone in the audience asked him about his relationship to Marcel Duchamp. I think he denied that there was much of one. In conversation w/ Burden afterward, I asked him again about Marcel Duchamp. Hey!, I was only freshly turned 22 & Duchamp was one of my only reference points for conceptual art. My reiteration of mentioning Duchamp was probably irritating for Burden in the same way that calling me a "dadaist" irritates me - I mean, wake up people!, get a little better educated, ok?!

Anyway, I appreciated that Burden's "Working Artist" was so unsensational. While the newspapers were criticizing him for being the "Death Artist" it was pretty obvious that they hoped he'd do something destructive & sensational so that they cd 'report' about - selling their papers at the same time that they claimed moral outrage. Burden, however, was clever enuf to completely frustrate their cliché expectations. He wasn't a one-trick pony. This bk, published in 2007, is a great document & a fairly thorough overview showing just how varied & consistently thoughtful his work is. It also shows how amazingly widespread Burden's presence has been in the world from a pretty young age. His work has been presented in many, many places.

Back to personal recollection: Burden presented a piece at the WPA (Washington Project for the Arts) on March 27, 1982 called "Hercules". "Over 30 large objects: doors, window panes, metal ladders, and a hand truck, were suspended parallel to the floor in a large theater space which had been painted black. Several small votive candles were placed along the perimeter of each object and lit. During the two hours of the performance/installation I would continuously circulate throughout the room pushing the platforms so that all continued to move and swing in erratic patterns." Alas, I mised this performance.

However, people I knew attended & hung out w/ Burden at a Baltimore bar later. Many of these folks were performance artists - quite good ones - but w/o the notoriety that Burden had. This was one of my many tastes of why I hated the art world. These people were schmoozing w/ Burden b/c he seemed like a good art world connection.. but they HATED his work. I, on the other hand, had a great respect for Burden but wdn't approach him at the bar b/c I was so disgusted by the opportunistic hypocrisy of the schmoozers.

One of the quotes attributed to Burden that's always stuck w/ me is something to the effect that he makes his fantasies real. Given that his fantasies don't seem to be harmful to others, I'm all for that - it takes a strong-willed personality. & Burden has that in spades.

& the work, so amply represented in this bk! Personal favorites? "White Light/White Heat" - living unseen on a platform in a gallery for 22 days; "Full Financial Disclosure"; "Samson" - having a turnstile in an art gallery gradually put pressure on walls; "Tyne Bridge" - one of the many bridges he's made from toy materials; "Medusa's Head"; "Five Day Locker Piece", "Deadman" - "At 8PM I lay down on La Cienaga Boulevard and was covered completely with a canvas tarpaulin. Two 15-minutes flares were placed near me to alert cars. Just before the flares extinguished, a police car arrived. I was arrested and booked for causing a false emergency to be reported. The trial took place in Beverly Hills. After three days of deliberation, the jury failed to reach a decision and the judge dismissed the case."

This has particular resonance for me. That was done in 1972. Around the same time, sometime between 1971 & 1974, I conceived of my 1st film. The idea? To roll back & forth across the Baltimore Beltway near my mom's house shooting a super-8 film of the cars careening out of my way (or not). This was one fantasy I certainly WASN'T going to realize.

Back to favorite Burden pieces: "B-Car" - a 200 lb car designed & built by Burden; "Coals to Newcastle" - flying pot on the wings of a model airplane from CA to Mexico; "Oh, Dracula"; "The Other Vietnam Memorial" - where the 3,000,000 Vietnamese killed in the Vietnam War are listed; "The Flying Steamroller"; "Ghost Ship"; "In Venice Money Grows on Trees"; "Pizza City".. THERE'S SO MUCH!

&, fortunately, there are certainly some intelligent essays here. None of that "Death Artist" shit. I particularly like Kristine Stiles' "Burden of Light" & Robert Storr's "Immanent Domain". Stiles analyzes Burden's use of light, Storr, the 'maleness' of the work. Both do an excellent job. It all makes we want to study Burden's work even more than I already have - to pick up all the other Burden bks. Inspired, obsessive, well-crafted.