This film leaves me wondering exactly how I feel about Chris Burden and his art. It's definitely split into what I would say three parts. The first is Chris' beginnings- how he experimented with art, how he challenged people's views of art, and how his work was viewed. This early version of Chris makes me wary, but I really enjoyed his experimentation with art. While parts made me uncomfortable or anxious, (such as him nearly setting himself on fire, getting shot, letting people decide if they would electrocute him or not, and even nailing himself to a car) I still enjoyed thinking about the concepts behind his work. A lot of his early work left me feeling anxious, but not entirely uncomfortable with what he was exploring. The film does a fantastic job at making Chris seem level headed and cautious with his potentially dangerous stunts. The narrative shows him as someone who was creative, innovative, and mostly just misunderstood by those who didn't like his art. However, once Chris became big, the film portrayed him as almost maniacal. I was especially uncomfortable while watching the film when his extremely dangerous performances were being discussed. Notably, the interview where he held a knife to the woman's neck and threatened to kill her. This left me almost overcome with anxiety. As an artist, Burden definitely took it way too far when he did that. I can understand putting himself through physical or emotional pain for his art, but I will not stand for him putting another person in harm's way. Even if he was acting the entire time, the amount of trauma from that experience that still follows that woman is evident. The film shows him as a crazy man, angry and on a lot of drugs. It captures what I can only assume his mindset was like. However, as it shifts towards the later years of his life, the film makes another turn, making Chris seem like a sensible, level-headed artist that just wants to bring joy with his art. It's a complete 180 from where he was before with his big truck and machine gun. I really, REALLY adore Burden's late work. His art serves the public, completely for free. His art encompasses what I feel like art should do- bring innovation, creativity, and joy all together and make something beautiful. He does this really well with Metropolis (the toy race car piece) and Urban Light (the lamp installation). Watching Metropolis made me smile, and it was something that was just really intriguing to watch happen. I had seen Urban Lights before in pictures, but I would have never thought that the same person who created that also crawled naked on broken glass or had someone shoot them in the arm. The film does an incredible job showing these stages of Burden's life, and how his attitudes towards creation changed throughout his life. Burden was innovative in his work, but his wide range of actions, both good and bad, makes me undecided about how I feel about him as an artist as a whole.
