Chris Burden(1946-2015)

Director
Writer
Producer

Chris Burdern guaranteed his place in art history in 1971 with a period of often dangerous and at times stomach-churning performances. After having himself shot, locked up in a locker for five days, electrocuted, and crucified on the back of a VW bug, Burden reinvented himself as the creator of truly mesmerizing installations and sculptures, from a suspended gigantic flywheel that seemingly spins on its own, to an assemblage of antique streetlights rewired for solar energy and illuminated outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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Burden (2016)

Chris Burden was born on 11 April 1946 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Shoot (1971), Through the Night Softly (1973) and Big Wrench (1980). He was married to Nancy Rubins and Barbara. He died on 10 May 2015 in Topanga Canyon, California, USA.

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Known for

Shoot

6.5

Short

Director

1971

Through the Night Softly

TV Short

Director

1973

Big Wrench

Short

Director

1980

Poem for L.A.

TV Short

Director

1975

Credits

IMDbPro

Director

Documentation of Selected Works, 1971-1974
Short
- Director
- 2000
The TV Commercials, 1973-1977
TV Short
- Director
- 2000
Big Wrench
Short
- Director
- 1980
The Big Wheel
Short
- collaborating director
- 1980
Full Financial Disclosure
TV Short
- Director
- 1977
Chris Burden Promo
TV Short
- Director
- 1976
Poem for L.A.
TV Short
- Director
- 1975
Through the Night Softly
TV Short
- Director
- 1973
TV Hijack
TV Short
- Director
- 1972
Shoot
6.5
Short
- Director
- 1971

Writer

Producer

Videos1

Trailer 2:15

Official Trailer

Personal details

Born
- April 11, 1946
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died
- May 10, 2015
- Topanga Canyon, California, USA(malignant melanoma)
Spouses
Other works
Sculpture: "Urban Light" in front of the Lacma.
Publicity listings
- 1 Article

Did you know

Trivia
Performance artist who took risks for his life and also engineered big art objects like "Beam Drop". In his memory, the Lacma left his "Urban Light" sculpture lit all night on the evening of his death, May 10, 2015.