Chris Burden- Part III

“After Newsweek and all the publicity came out, I had to stop doing those things because I couldn’t keep doing them in the light of that kind of publicity.” –Chris Burden

I mentioned in the last post the idea of power- the power one would need over their mental and emotional responses to situations. In this case Chris Burden had to exert extreme measures of will power to deal with his self-imposed ‘stress tests.’ Power over self. Power over situations. Power over others. By and large, this is what Chris Burden’s work centers around- although now he does it by less violent means. So to wrap up my discourse on him I’ll share with you a couple of generally ‘non-participatory’ pieces. I say generally because many of them still contain some element of an action that needs to be performed, or the pieces are somewhat kinetic. But they’re not ‘Performance Art’ in the classical sense.

The first piece is called ‘Big Wheel.’ It has this huge wheel (probably about 6’ in diameter). Next to it is a motorcycle.

Somebody (it could be the artist, a museum guard, somebody) starts the motorcycle and backs it up to where the back wheel (the ‘drive’ wheel) is placed against the Big Wheel and sets it spinning. Then the ‘natural powers’ of momentum and friction take over (who ever said science and art are opposites?). The weight and speed of the wheel are such that it will spin for about two-and-a-half hours before the friction in the bearings slowly bring it to a stop. At which point the motorcycle can be started up again…

Another piece is titled ‘Samson.’ Named after the Biblical Judge whose last act was to push down the supporting columns of a building killing himself and all of the Philistines within the structure, this sculpture aims to bring that scenario to life.

Massive beams are placed against the load bearing walls of the museum space. The beams are connected with a device that is in turn connected to a turn-style. Visitors to the museum must walk through the turn-style to view the rest of the exhibition. With each rotation a gear is notched in the jacking-device, pushing the beams further apart and putting more pressure on the walls, purporting to tear the museum down- with you in it…

The final piece is called ‘The Flying Steamroller’ and it is Art-meets-Engineering at it’s finest. There is just an odd sensation that occurs when you see a 12-Ton hunk of machinery ‘effortlessly’ gliding through the air. Check it out…

This kind of bare bones presentation of the facts (the facts here being a wheel that turns until it slowly comes to a stop or a steam roller flying) is the kind of stuff that often brings the comments “this is art?” or “I can make something like that!” The answer to both of those questions is ‘Yes!’- yes, it is art and yes, you can make something like that. The real question is, then, why haven’t you? Let’s explore that a bit.

As an artist I look at things differently. Often, this different viewpoint is appreciated by others who ‘would have never thought of that.’ Yet- despite that appreciation, validation of me as an artist still predominantly rests on my ability to draw or paint a picture that ‘looks real.’ Most people’s focus on art is on the mechanical aspects eye-hand coordination. Don’t get me wrong- I’ve come to appreciate that as a very special, unique skill. But the value of art is so much more. I’ve seen some people who can draw circles around everybody else, but I don’t feel they are very artistic. And others who I feel are extremely talented artists who couldn’t draw worth beans.

To me, art is thought made visible- and by thought I mean both the rational, cognitive logic and the seemingly illogical processes of emotion that nonetheless play a considerable role in our ‘thinking.’ Good art is the ability to display a certain point of view with a powerful resonance. The natural ‘powers’ of friction, weight/gravity, force, etc. are extremely powerful when you stop to really think about them. And I think there is no doubt that Chris Burden’s presentation of them carries a very palpable resonance, a presence that is as much (if not more) felt than seen. Symbolically speaking these physical forces are no different in action than other forces in our lives- the role that values and beliefs play in how we interact with the world. What moves us or slows us down. The pressures and the frictions in our lives. The things we value and how we are drawn to or repelled from people, places, or things because of those values.

So as you go about your day, I encourage you to look around you and try not to get caught up in what things are. But rather, look for what has presence; what has resonance? What affects you? What are these things doing? That is art.

“Whatever it is that Burden thinks he is trying to do, he has forced me to rethink the values by which I live, and for that I am deeply grateful.” -Robert Horvitz

Chris Burden - Part II

So I was doing some ‘research’ and looking back at some of my past blogs and realized that I left all (three) of you hanging. When I introduced the artist Chris Burden I promised a part II and a part III. Then I got sidetracked by other pursuits. You can stop holding your breath now.

When I come across an artist that really strikes me- for good or for bad- I usually throw myself into their life and work to try and get a handle on what they’re all about. Especially if they have garnered a considerable amount of critical acclaim- which Mr. Burden has. So first here’s a quick re-hash of some of his performance pieces:

5 Day Locker Piece- “University of California, Irvine, April 26-30, 1971: I was locked in Locker Number 5 for five consecutive days and did not leave the locker during this time. The locker measured two feet high, two feet wide, and three feet deep. I stopped eating several days prior to entry. The locker directly above me contained five gallons of bottled water; the locker below me contained an empty five gallon bottle.”

Shoot- Probably his most famous piece where he had a friend shoot him in the arm with a .22 rifle. Want to see it? It was filmed. The video starts out with just a black screen while the artist talks about the piece (very quietly)- then all the action happens in the final 8 seconds.

Through the Night Softly- “Main Street, Los Angeles, September 12,1973: Holding my hands behind my back , I crawled through fifty feet of broken glass.”

Kunst Kick- During an Art Fair in Basel, Switzerland, Burden was kicked down a flight of stairs.

Doorway to Heaven-“November 15, 1973: At 6 pm I stood in the doorway of my studio facing the Venice Boardwalk, a few spectators watched as I pushed two live electric wires into my chest. The wires crossed and exploded, burning me but saving me from electrocution.”

Proponents of modern and contemporary art- including the artists themselves- often shy away from saying what artworks ‘mean’, insisting that the important thing is what it means to the viewer- a very relativistic stance befitting our pluralistic society. And while that approach has merit, I am particularly interested in the artist’s ‘platform’ - what was the perspective and the process of thinking that led to this ‘artistic conclusion’ that is the work of art? Certainly certain works have a special meaning to me regardless of the artist’s intent, but I usually like to qualify my own feelings with the artist’s intent. Chris Burden’s work is a case in point. I’m certain that he had no thought of Christian parallels in his work, which are some of the meanings they hold to me, but I couldn’t arrive at my own meanings without first delving into what he thought and was attempting to achieve.
So here are some things that Chris Burden said in relation to his work:

“I don’t think I’m trying to commit suicide. I think my art is an inquiry, which is what all art is about. “

“One thing that sort of bothers me is that a lot of people remember the Shoot piece and some of the violent pieces, and then ignore the reason for it all, the whole thing that ties it all together. They get carried away with ‘There’s this guy who had himself shot!’ They don’t go to the next step and wonder why I would want to do that, or what my reasons are.”

“I never feel like I’m taking risks. What the pieces are about is what is going to happen. Danger and pain are a catalyst- to hype things up. That’s important. The object is to see how I can deal with them. The fear is a lot worse than the actual deed.“

“It was more like a kind of mental experience for me- to see how I would deal with the mental aspect- like knowing that at 7:30 you’re going to stand in a room and a guy’s going to shoot you. I’d set it up by telling a bunch of people, and that would make it happen. It was almost like setting up fate or something, in a real controlled way. The violence part really wasn’t that important, it was just a crux to make all the mental stuff happen… The anticipation, how you dealt with the anticipation.”

The clincher was his resolution to do it- and how that dictated his actions until that decision reached its culmination. At the time I read that quote I was going through a study of the book of Luke. In Luke 9:51 it states that Jesus ‘resolutely set out for Jerusalem.’ And it hit me- Jesus made the decision and it dictated His actions throughout his life and ministry.

Pause for a little art history background. In the mid to late ‘60s there were a group of artists, often referred to as ‘Post-Minimalists,’ who were engaged in making ‘Process Art.’ Jackson Pollock had somewhat initiated the idea of ‘acting’ upon the canvas- with his splashes, drips, and splatters- rather than just painting a picture. So these ‘Process Artists’ extended that line of thinking into sculpture by taking materials and subjecting them to some sort of ‘process’ or action and the resulting change in the appearance or nature of the material would be the final product. So instead of trying to make something, artists – in the activist spirit of the ‘60s- did something, and the artwork was a result of that action or activity. Now let’s extend the concept of material a bit- from a physical substance to something that is mental or emotional. The human figure has all the physical properties of any other material- density, mass, texture, color, etc. But it also has a psychological aspect to it that a piece of metal or wood does not have. So I think what Chris Burden was doing was an extension of this concept- what process or activity could he do that would bear upon the psychological and emotional aspects of the ‘material’ of the human figure?

So with that thought in mind I think of verses like Luke 12:50 – “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed.” Similarly, in Matt. 26:38 Jesus exclaims, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” In contemplating Chris Burden’s ‘experiment’ on the properties of his ‘psychical material,’ I was actually given more insight into these statements by Jesus.

If you suspend your judgment that Chris Burden is insane, and instead look at the weight these actions he performed would place on him, mentally and emotionally, you can get a different sense of things. What would it take to go through with the things he went through? And what sort of resolve, control, or sense of power would one need to submit to these physical and mental tortures?

And now think of Jesus.

What would it take to be able to make the decision He made, and go through the things that He did? For me, it makes His sacrifice all the more profound. And God revealed that to me…through Chris Burden’s art.

Encouraging Words

So I read to my boys every night as they're going to bed. Wanting to expose them to 'the best' (and giving myself an excuse to read them) I've decided to hit on some 'classics.' So our first entry in this endeavor is 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe.

I'm blown away by the depth of insight in this book into the nature of faith in God. So I decided to post an example. To fill you in, Robinson Crusoe's been stranded on this island for about 24 years now and he's made contact with a group of cannibals. One he is able to, in a sense, capture and make him his servant. His name is Friday. So he is trying to teach Friday about God. And here were words I found enlightening and encouraging.

"Here I was run down again by him to the last degree, and it was a testimony to me how the mere notions of nature, though they will guide reasonable creatures to the knowledge of a God, and of a worship or homage due to the supreme being of God, as the consequence of our nature; yet nothing but Divine revelation can form the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and of a redemption purchased for us, of a Mediator of the new covenant, and of an Intercessor at the footstool of God's throne; I say, nothing but a revelation from Heaven can form these in the soul; and that therefore the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean, the Word of God and the Spirit of God, promised for the guide and sanctifier of His people, are the absolutely necessary instructors of the souls of men, in the saving knowledge of God, and the means of salvation...
I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge in all the methods I took for this poor creature's instruction, and must acknowledge what I believe all that act upon the same principle will find, that in laying things open to him, I really informed and instructed myself in many things that either I did not know or had not fully considered before, but which occurred naturally to my mind upon my searching into them for the information of this poor savage;... and when I reflected that in this solitary life which I had been confined to, I had not only been moved myself to look up to Heaven and to seek to the Hand that had brought me there, but was now to be made an instrument under Providence to save the life and, for aught I knew, the soul of a poor savage, and bring him to the true knowldedge of religion, and of the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, to know whom is life eternal; I say, when I reflected upon all these things, a secret joy ran through every part of my soul, and I frequently rejoiced that ever I was brought to this place, which I had so often thought the most dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have befallen me."

After I read this Trevor was confused about what exactly gave him the the joy and it was great to share a verse he is well familiar with- our previous Dwelling in the Word passage from 2 Corinthians- "Therefore, since it is through God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry we do not lose heart." Robinson Crusoe felt this mercy, to be engaged in the ministry of sharing Christ, and in the midst of his 'dreadful' predicament on his island, it gave him hope.

May God bless you on your 'island.'