Newspaper Article

The balance of a career

Kennedy, Randy

2013

Overview

\"There's so much of his work that's not really known,\" said Lisa Phillips, director of the New Museum, who is curator of the show. It will take over all five floors of the museum's building and part of its exterior, and will include several new works. \"Part of that might be because of his self-imposed isolation. But he was also working in advance of a lot of people and never really fit into any style or movement, though the work now looks prescient.\" After months of debate and engineering calculations, the idea was vetoed, and now only two towers and a sailboat will be attached to the exterior. Mr. [Chris Burden]'s intentions with the boat, which will be suspended dozens of feet above the street, are in one sense brutally straightforward, post-Hurricane Sandy. \"When the next high tide is that high,\" he said, \"then it's time to climb in. It's that simple.\" \"If this little piece, this one piece, breaks,\" Mr. Burden said, pointing to a negligible-looking round concrete cylinder near the top of one arch, \"then you no longer have a bridge. It all comes down. How many people will understand that I have no idea. But it fascinates me.\"

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: Burden, Chris