Chris Burden

Christopher Lee “Chris” Burden (April 11, 1946-May 10, 2015) was an American artist working in performance, sculpture an installation art. Burden began to work in performance art in the early 1970s, he made a series of controversial performances in which the idea of personal danger as artistic expression was central. His first significant performance work, Five Day Locker Piece (1971). His most well-known act from that time is perhaps the 1971 performance piece Shoot, in which he was shot in his left arm by an assistant from a distance of about 16 feet (5 m) with a .22 rifle. Other performances from the 1970s were Match Piece (1972), Deadman (1972), B.C. Mexico (1973), Fire Roll (1973), TV Hijack (1972), Doomed (1975) and Honest Labor (1979).

 

Gallery Site
Shoot (1971) video documentation