{"data":{"id":"3591","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":3591,"topgoose_id":2993,"tms_id":3591,"display_name":"Chris Burden","sort_name":"Burden Chris","display_date":"1946–2015","begin_date":"1946","end_date":"2015","biography":"\u003cp\u003eChris Burden’s uncompromising and\noften controversial performance works\nfrom the early 1970s tested the limits\nof his physical endurance and earned him\na reputation as the Evel Knievel of the\nart world. \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/35240\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eDocumentation of Selected Works\n1971–75\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e presents visual records of eleven\nworks, performed at locations across Los\nAngeles and originally recorded on Super 8,\n16mm film, and half-inch video, that show\nthe artist’s body being subjected to a\nrange of external and internal pressures.\nThe collection includes brief footage\nof the notorious early performance \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/35240\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eShoot\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cem\u003e\n\u003c/em\u003e(1971), in which Burden arranged to be\nshot in the arm by a friend; \u003cem\u003eThrough the\nNight Softly\u003c/em\u003e (1973), in which he crawls naked\nover broken glass; \u003cem\u003eDeadman\u003c/em\u003e (1972), in\nwhich he poses as a dead body in a public\nstreet; and \u003cem\u003eVelvet Water\u003c/em\u003e (1974), in which\nhe attempts to breathe water.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough Burden’s work during\nthis period involved subjecting his body\nto gunshot, fire, electricity, starvation,\nisolation, and the risk of drowning\n(among other trials), he rejected the term\n\u003cem\u003emasochism\u003c/em\u003e, stating that “the masochist\nintends to hurt himself, that is not my intent.”\nRather, his work explores the complex\npsychology and energy of anticipation and\nendurance, issues of identity and masculinity,\nand the complicated dynamics of the\nrelationship between artist and audience,\nindividual and society. In the compilation,\nBurden’s deadpan voice-over narrative\nexplains the logistics of each work as it\nreasserts the contingency of performance\nart that often leads to unexpected outcomes\nor moments of failure, and the extreme\nsubjectivity of his own experience in the\nface of mere historical document.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500118760","wikidata_id":"Q720832","created_at":"2017-08-30T17:41:35.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-03-31T07:02:42.113-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/3591/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/3591/exhibitions"}}}}