Experimentation As A Means of Art

In comparison to Peter Campus’ Double Vision, I think that Chris Burden’s Documentation of Selected Works and Terry Fox’s The Children’s Tapes seem to revolve around realm of tangible experimentation versus experimentation with a camera as a means of developing certain illusions. Both of the movies dealt with some form of experimentation—Burden’s movie utilized himself as the object for experimentation, while Fox’s movie displayed experimentation using simple objects, like a fork and spoon. Both movies can be considered as montages in that they are comprised of various shots that try to exhibit each artist’s purpose of painting a bigger picture. Burden’s means of showing shocking moments, in which he his risking his life or being injured, illustrate his daring style as an artist to break social boundaries through his own means of experimental display—like when he was mostly naked and he was moving around on shattered glass pieces with his hands on his back. Fox’s purpose for showing different experiments seemed to achieve some sense of entertainment with the spectacle of minimalism. He proves that an audience can be fascinated with simple pieces as long as they are able to stimulate some kind of fascination when combined together. Both pieces ultimately express the unique minds of each artist in that they each have their own means of conveying their style and perspective.
Burden’s compilation of his works was both fascinating and disturbing because of his range of experimentation. This screening reminded me of an older, more direct, and meaningful version of Jackass. Burden’s experiments are all for his daring displays of art. All the stunts that he does, it seems like he was trying to prove something as he is trying to create a piece of “art.” For example, his last act in the “Velvet Water,” was the most disturbing because he says that he is “breathing in water” as opposed to drowning. From my perspective, he looked like he was drowning, but he gradually got used to it and his gasps for air were less intense toward the end. But it still makes me wonder what Burden considers as art, if he continues to sacrifice his health? In my opinion, I kind of think that this piece was more of an event being taped than a piece of art? I state this with a question mark because “art” can be defined in various ways according to different people. Burden’s narration made it seem less of a taped event and it allowed me to get a sense of what was going through his head as he deems his creation to be art.
Fox’s piece was a bit boring in that I was not able to enjoy the simplistic structure of the screening. The lack of sound and color made it a little difficult to comprehend what exactly is going on. At first, I was confused as to why the name of the video is “The Children’s Tapes,” but my opinion is that the experiments and the movie revolve around the simplicity that is also valued by childhood. It often takes a minimal amount of entertainment to distract a child, which could be the purpose of this screening. The gradual acclimation to the artist’s style was seen as his experiments became more noticeable towards the end—from using fruit, a match, and a pan as a trap to showing magic through candles floating in water. In the end, the screening seemed like an old homemade video of someone doing random experiments.