Abstracted

It’s as American as apple pie, either being shot or shooting people.” - Chris Burden

For our last set of spring quarter, we're doing "Shoot" by Chris Burden (1971) at 4pm today! I think about this body-based performance AT LEAST once a week...

Chris Burden was an extreme performance artist who used physical risk to comment on the role of the body and masculinity at the height of social commentary around the Vietnam War. In "Shoot", 25-year-old Burden planned an event where his friend, Bruce Dunlap, would shoot him in the arm at close range. The crowd was intimate and limited to those closest to Burden, who all watched the event without intervening. If the bullet was even a few inches off target, Burden could have died. While only supposed to graze the arm, the bullet went through it instead, resulting in Burden's hospitalization.

"Shoot" was made so that Burden could embody a physical experience that he had only ever felt visually. During this era, progress in technology brought live footage of the Vietnam War (dubbed "the televised war") to every household in America, increasing the visibility of violence. The performance also raises questions of masculinity and intimacy in the face of danger.

Burden meticulously documented the event through photographs and video, including an 8-second video on 16mm film. To post this without potentially triggering content, I've included a picture that does not show the weapon or wound, but plenty of documentation is online. "Shoot" has become a pivotal work in the larger body-performance movement, and remains relevant in its critique of gun culture and mass violence.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2JpjuUpjDBTOxU7o...