Chris Burden

Chris Burden came into prominence in the late 1960s, but unlike many of the performance artists of his generation, Burden was interested in empirical and scientific investigations. His goal was to return the control of art making to the artist and to question the relevancy of more established art practices. In this documentary Burden talks about his hard-hitting performances in the ’70s that took a jaded art world by surprise and continues on to discuss the sculptural and installation works of the ’80s. Where his early performance work created a single, minimalist image—a frozen moment that captured the essence of a pure action—later work moved away from the body toward objects and environmentally ordered installations.