Why Is Chris Burden Playing in Traffic Again?

If you know the name of artist Chris Burden, you probably think pain: shooting, electrocution, and even crucifixion. Although Burden ended his agonizing exploits over 35 years ago, those performance art pieces remain his most memorable work. Metropolis II (shown above), a gigantic kinetic sculpture featuring 1,100 custom-made die-cast cars and 13 model train sets racing and stalling in a chaos of traffic now on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, threatens to shoot down the old perceptions and make the art world see Chris Burden anew. But why is Burden, the man who once allowed himself to be nailed to a Volkswagen Beetle, playing in traffic again? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why Is Chris Burden Playing in Traffic Again?"

[Image: Chris Burden, Metropolis II, 2010. Three 1/2 hp DC motors with motor controllers; 1,100 custom-manufactured die-cast cars; 13 HO-scale train sets with controllers and tracks; steel, aluminum, shielded copper wire, copper sheet, brass, various plastics, assorted woods and manufactured wood products, Legos, Lincoln Logs, Dado Cubes, glass, ceramic and natural stone tiles, acrylic and oil-based paints, rubber, sundry adhesives. Dimensions: 9’9” (H) x 28’3” (W) x 19’2” (D) (297 cm x 862 cm x 584 cm). Courtesy of The Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Foundation. © Chris Burden. Photo © 2012 Museum Associates/LACMA. See a video of Metropolis II in action here.]

[Many thanks to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the image above and other press materials related to the exhibition of Chris Burden’s Metropolis II.]