Poetic Practical: The Unrealized Work of Chris Burden

Poetic Practical offers the first examination of Chris Burden’s unrealized projects, featuring never-before-seen archival materials and newly commissioned photography of Burden’s studio and property.

This extensively illustrated book includes 435 images, featuring never-before-seen archival materials and newly commissioned photography of Burden’s studio and property. Burden’s work, whether realized or unrealized, was fundamentally driven by a speculative approach to artistic production, one that compelled him to interrogate the physical limits of his own body, social mores, institutional capabilities, and scientific forces. Above all, his work repeatedly sought to test the thresholds of presumed impossibility, making his unrealized works the ultimate example of such measures. The sixty-seven artworks included in this publication offer a unique and unprecedented perspective on the life and working process of this formidable artist.
 

Yayoi Shionoiri is the executive director of the Estate of Chris Burden and the Studio of Nancy Rubins. Sydney Stutterheim, PhD, is an art historian and writer. Andie Trainer is an editor at Gagosian. Donatien Grau is a critic, scholar, and museum executive.