Burden

First of, I am not a professional Artist. I have a daughter who is and some relatives who are.

I am not at all crazy about the Jack Ass movie series but as I watched this I can see he is brilliant in his own way. It was like watching the people that make that type of movie explain themselves in a rational and logical way.

I thought his idea that the sculpture itself might not need to be the art but what it does to the folks around them or how it makes them feel can be the art. I would agree with that.

I made me think which is what I appreciated the most I guess. A must watch? Probably not unless you are into art possibly.

This documentary can be seen as a record or a story of Chris Burden, was an American artist, and his artworks. If you are an artist, Chris Burden is the name you should know. You can dislike his work, but you will get some inspirations after you saw his pieces. From his early works on performance and sculpture to later installations, the art styles changed significantly from time to time so do Burden as an artist. The early artworks of Burden are full of violence, fear, uncertainty, and even bloody. The video about performance piece named 'Shoot,' his the most known 1971 performance work, reflected the moment of art. As Burden said, every person, especially in the United States, would have fantasy of getting shot. He just was a performer presenting this fantasy to the audience. The boundary between art and incident is blurred in this art piece. After watching videos of his early performance art, I cannot stop thinking the definition of art in the art world. All those pieces are on the line between art and lunatic actions. His later installations and sculptures are pleased to see. I can define those works as art without hesitation. By using many small parts, Burden created a huge sculpture, an area, and even a world. His works are a journey of self-consciousness. Who am I? What do I want to do? What is art for me? How do I reflect on my works? One thing make feel a little boring is the background music. Though this documentary has a few background music, I am the kind of person expecting more background music while watching a documentary. Just a personal view.

Burden is a polarizing figure, and admittedly your enjoyment of this film depends on it. It's a relatively simple piece, and it doesn't really get as interrogative as I'd like. It's too afraid to actually challenge the subject, and thus loses the chance to actually tear into one of the most prolific modern American artist. It's a puff piece, but in the nonstop puffing, it inadvertently makes Burden look dumber and more bitter than I think they intended. He comes off as a man who spent his early years pushing the boundaries as hard as he could, yet seems baffled why people inspired by him push boundaries. He also seems like he knew he could never escape the label "that guy who shot himself that one time" but they don't add to that conversation. It'd be interesting to go into how it feels to have your defining piece be an unintentional act of self-harm, but they don't really talk about it.

From a film perspective this might as well be made by an actual child. It's an incredibly paint by numbers set up, which is mildly ironic considering how the subject matter makes a point of being unconventional. It's banal, stereotypical, and most of all predictable in its construction. It even has a title-over-a-montage-of-news-hardcut-to-subject-walking-through-calm-nature sequence, like it's amateur hour or something. Embarrassing.

Overall, it's a film that you'll only enjoy if you're up for Burden puff piece. There's nothing in the film construction itself to endear itself. Its a movie about that guy who shot himself that one time, your opinion of the movie will depend on that.

Chris Burden, about whom I knew nothing before viewing this film, lived the life of a person examining the nature of art. (May he rest in peace.) Abstracting what ties his various early performances and later sculptures together, one may arrive at the conclusion that art is the imposition of one´s will upon the universe. It´s an interesting idea, and as far as I can tell, there is no other way really to distinguish his early works from stunts carried out by thrill seekers. Burden´s only reason for risking his life, allowing himself to be shot, nailed to a Volkswagen, lie inert for days as part of a performance, or occupy a 2 x 2 locker for five days, was to express his desire to do those things.

In some ways, Chris Burden reminds me of Christo, who also has done some pretty bizarre and seemingly pointless things, wrapping buildings and bridges, etc., and which some people may regard as equally insane. But there are two notable distinctions: Burden for the most part carried out his projects without having to prostrate himself before local municipal governments, and Burden did not, at least in his early work, seem to care at all about beauty and aesthetics, as Christo obviously does.

What a lucky artist Burden was, to have had such a surname, which makes the perfect title for this film, given the reaction to him by much of the art world and public, at least as depicted in the archival news footage and interviews.

Putting Burden's artwork and personal performances aside, I want to say that this was in fact a very well put together documentary! It had relatively smooth transitioning and for most of my viewing I felt very intrigued and perplexed on what could be shown next! Well done to the editor!

When speaking in terms of the content, I would say that you as an audience really get to know Burden and his tenacity as well as his personal inspirations. These become very apparent as something that is very extreme in terms of personal safety and the safety of the viewers but also something that envelopes the viewer by creating the sense of concern, anxiety, and perhaps making you feel a tad bit uncomfortable. At the end of the day Burden is a proven and acclaimed artist and this doc represented much of his path along the way from childhood to his very end.