"The idea that a car runs free - those days are about to close"

August 2, 2011 6:18 PM

Chris Burden's kinetic sculpture Metropolis II: 1100 custom die-cast cars, 18 lanes, 4 years in the making.

More detail. Chris Burden previously.

posted by ChuqD (22 comments total)

HotWheelsaaqatsi

I am glad Chris Burden is around. If it weren't for my Trivia League and his Ubuweb page, I would never have remembered him for anything but being shot in the arm.

I particularly like that he bought ad time on national TV in the 1970's and screened these.
posted by not_on_display at 6:32 PM on August 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

Chris Burden taught me that contemporary art can, on occasion, be cool.
posted by TheTingTangTong at 6:46 PM on August 2, 2011

So, he got paid for playing with erector sets, legos, model trains and Hot Wheels tracks... for 18 years?

I totally need a grant.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:04 PM on August 2, 2011

That is cool as hell. Needs some army men though.
posted by marxchivist at 7:15 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is an interesting piece of art. The second-to-last shot (of the whole piece) was startling.
posted by jeoc at 7:41 PM on August 2, 2011

I love this.
posted by box at 8:15 PM on August 2, 2011

This is really neat, but I found the video frustrating in that it's all close ups, and then when you finally get to see the whole thing in a wide shot, it's short and then it's over. The close ups are more interesting when they are in some sort of context (for me anyway)
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 8:16 PM on August 2, 2011 [3 favorites]

For this to work in the real world ...

• you'd be unable to change lanes or ever exit the highway once you found your way onto it (which you couldn't because there are no entrance ramps);
• cars would need to have sufficient bumpers to allow them to ram and and be pushed by the cars in front and behind them;
• every city would need a sufficiently tall enough hill to provide ample momentum;
• all car radios would have to play the music of Phillip Glass.

posted by crunchland at 8:42 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

It would have been cute - it's too bad this one didn't work: When Robots Rule: The Two-Minute Airplane Factory.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:46 PM on August 2, 2011

What 5_13_23_42_69_666 said. The reveal made me WTFOL. This is making me consider a road trip down to LA to see it this fall.
posted by chemoboy at 9:09 PM on August 2, 2011

Funny, that tortise song came on my ipod on random shuffle this afternoon after not hearing it for years
posted by Jibuzaemon at 10:29 PM on August 2, 2011

I agree with 5_13_23_42_69_666 that I would've liked more time to just dig on the whole gestalt. Also I would have liked to hear what the whole thing sounded like at the end.

Otherwise, very cool and fun.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:18 AM on August 3, 2011

I thought I might see a little Chris Burden nailed to the hood of one of those cars. Anyway, it looks awesome and quite pilgrimage-worthy.
posted by smrtsch at 6:21 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I god I love you, Chris Burden. You are like 3 amazing artists, all packed in to one fabulous career.
posted by Theta States at 7:10 AM on August 3, 2011

That was lovely. I think I need to take a trip south this fall. Thanks for the post.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:18 AM on August 3, 2011

Chris Burden makes every other artist, living or dead, look bad. Even Michelangelo never crucified himself to a VW.
posted by rikschell at 9:41 AM on August 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

This work takes 2 staff members to maintain operation. Oh how I want that job!
posted by Theta States at 10:17 AM on August 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

There's a train-cam shot at the end I liked quite a bit... but I'd rather see a video shot with One of these!
posted by inthe80s at 10:21 AM on August 3, 2011

So, he got paid for playing with erector sets, legos, model trains and Hot Wheels tracks... for 18 years?

Well, he did some other stuff during that time. Some stuff you probably don't want to do....
posted by lumpenprole at 10:32 AM on August 3, 2011

This is making me consider a road trip down to LA to see it this fall.

Aaaaaand that would be why the final shot was so short, and why the preceding shots were close-ups.
posted by davejay at 9:02 PM on August 3, 2011

The pointless circularity of the car's trips is an interesting commentary. They are moving but really going nowhere, there is activity but nothing is really happening.

Also the shot on the train at the end is strikingly like being on the elevated train in Bangkok!
posted by dave99 at 4:21 AM on August 4, 2011

The pointless circularity of the car's trips is an interesting commentary. They are moving but really going nowhere, there is activity but nothing is really happening.

Well we're all just spinning our wheels here, waiting for death....
posted by Theta States at 5:56 AM on August 4, 2011