Art, Architecture and Burden

Imogen Perry
THAP1211 Studio Theory Fine Arts A: Extended topic area research- Presentation
Amanda Williams
6th August 2009

Art, Architecture and Burden

Architecture traditionally has always relied on similar foundations based on precepts of form, material and function. Most architecturally realized structures are the products of, the architect’s visualization of three-dimensional structure, the money available to expend on resources and labour and the current conventions of the age like our modernist utilisation of geometrical shapes evolving from the post war architecture of Le Corbusier. Modernist architecture has had to change the rules by implementing new alternatives such as eco-friendly designs with low-cost materials. Innovative ideas are now offered and available to the public, as seen in the film “Garbage Warrior: turning trash into treasure.” The film is about architect, Mike Reynolds who uses free recycling to build sustainable houses that can be constructed in any location. Sustainability, changing lifestyle and increasing population are determining the architectural future. This is why society has a fresh interest in what artists and architecture in partnership can create by utilising imagination and ingenuity. Our preconceptions have been reinvented by designs that exploit modern aesthetics to produce results that are cheaper, more functional and adaptable to our twenty-first century life style. Heartney explains how broadly the term architecture can be applied:

“Artists who straddle the line between art and architecture examine the ways in which people today do and might live. They put forth their own visionary proposals, which range from the sublime to the ridiculous, encompassing everything from rethinking whole cities to designing toilets.” [1]

The artist Chris Burden uses thematic modernist architecture in his practice. He began his career in the 1970’s with extreme and passionate performances. His most famous, Shoot involved Burden standing in a gallery, 15 feet from his friend who shot him in the left arm with a copper jacket bullet, 22. long rifle. His themes are institutional, political and often question social authority. Recently as an artist, Burden has stepped into architectural turf, building large-scale sculptures, installations and works involving engineering, architecture, mass production and technology. This year in the art journal Flash Art Burden said, “Yes I do have an interest in architecture and the space that surrounds us. It has always played a role in my art making.” [2]

In 2003 Chris Burden had a solo exhibition, Small Skyscraper. On display were sketches from 1991 to 2003 of the Skyscraper and the finished prototype. Small Skyscraper (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) is a thirty-five foot high, four storey and four hundred square foot mini skyscraper. It is made of aluminium struts, stainless steel, glass, and wood. Burden devised this model in collaboration with TK Architecture of Los Angeles. It was presented by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE). As Le Corbusier said “a house is a machine for living in.” [3] Burden has made this full-scale model of a Skyscraper controversial by tipping it sideways so it can be used as a home. He has produced a machine for living in. The sketches from 1991 of Small Skyscraper Quasi Legal (Fig. 2) were intended to be built on Burden’s property but due to Los Angeles building codes that only allow small structures to be built without a building permit Burden was unable to complete the project until 2003 when he found away around these restrictions. As an artist Burden rejects limitations that constrain his work and eludes them whenever possible, including council restrictions. Similar to the artist Siah Armanjani, Burden uses the language of architecture to urge society to think more critically about how we live. [4] Heartney says, “Artists realize that architecture can provide a visual and philosophical language for addressing the contradictions of contemporary life.” [5] By readdressing and manipulating society’s idea of the skyscraper, Burden has erased our old limitations and given us a relevant re-focussed way of thinking about building in a space and an artist’s necessity to question and reinvent uninhibitedly at every step.


Bibliography

Heartney, Eleanor. Art and Today. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008.

Horlock Mary. “ Chris Burden: Life and Works.” In Chris Burden, When Robots Rule: The Two-Minute Airplane Factory, edited by Frances Morris, 29-49. London: Tate Gallery, 1999.

Campagnola, Sonia and Sansone, Valentina, “Face the Dragon Head-on.” Flash Art XLII, no. 267 (2009): 44-47.

Ebony, David, “From bullets to bridges: Chris Burden's new architecture-inspired works.” Art in America 92, New York, no.4 (April 2004), 120-122, in ProQuest 5000 International http://dd8gh5yx7k.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kevLmtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Chris+Burden&rft.jtitle=New+York+Times&rft.au=Cotter,+Holland&rft.date=1994-03-18&rft.issn=03624331&rft.spage=C23&rft.externalDBID=NYT&rft.externalDocID=3704537
(accessed September 23, 2009).

Hinshaw, Mark. “Art and Architecture. Trespassing: Houses x Artists.” Architecture 91.10 (Oct 2002), 25-27, in Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. University of Sydney, Gale Document Number:A93087489
http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/itx/start.do?prodId=EAIM
(accessed September 23, 2009).

Mullio, Cara. “Chris Burden: Small Skyscraper” LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design (2003), http://www.artleak.org/burden.html (accessed September 23, 2009).

Footnotes

[1]Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today. (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008), 322.
[2]Campagnola, Sonia and Sansone, Valentina, “Face the Dragon Head-on.” Flash Art XLII, no. 267 (2009): 46.
[3]Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today. London: Phaidon Press Limited, (2008), 322.
[4]Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today. London: Phaidon Press Limited, (2008), 336.
[5]Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today. London: Phaidon Press Limited, (2008), 322.

Images

Figure 1. Burden, Chris. Small Skyscraper, 2003. Aluminium struts, stainless steel, glass, and wood, 10x36x10 feet. Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Reproduced from LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, http://www.artleak.org/ burden.html (accessed September 24, 2009)

Figure 2. Burden, Chris. Small Skyscraper, 2003. Aluminium struts, stainless steel, glass, and wood, 10x36x10 feet. Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Reproduced from TK Architecture of Los Angeles, http://www.tkarchitecture.com/.../ small-skyscraper/ (accessed September 24, 2009)

Figure 3. Burden, Chris. Small Skyscraper Quasi Legal, 1991. Mixed media drawing, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Reproduced from Welcome to Lace, http://www.welcometolace.org (accessed September 24, 2009)