Burden is directed by Richard Dewey and Timothy Marrinan and showcases the life of the artist Chris Burden and his career which ranges from performance, sculpting, and installation. The movie shows his many attempts to reach new boundaries in the art scene. This makes the viewer question if we should call his violent, life-endangering work art and how broad the definition for art is.
The documentary is structured chronologically with Chris Burden's life from his experimental college days to his remarkable installations towards his final decade. It has cross-cutting between newly-documented interviews with first hand accounts and older footage of Chris in his youth. The viewpoints the filmmakers were able to obtain for this biography really makes you feel like you knew who he was and you will have trouble not becoming an instant fan.
Chris Burden had opposers who didn't think his work should be classified as art but the act of a madman. Purposefully putting yourself at risk in order to convey a message didn't go well with mainstream art audiences in the seventies. Chris however does mention the similarities to notable artists when they were experimenting and attempting techniques never seen before. He argues that art should be about pushing the bar and making a unique impact in the culture.
Towards the latter end of his life is where Chris proves his spot in a list of prominent artists. He stated how he admired sculptures in how they require action from the viewer to analyze work from all angles unlike a 2-dimensional painting. He takes this idea to the extreme when looking at his works which include Metropolis II and Medusa's Head. It is quite astonishing the detail and craftsmanship in both of these works and which also don't have a message requiring the gamble of someone's life.