Episodes

Speakeasy Special #2: Remembering Chris Burden

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 18: A view of "Urban Light" by Chris Burden during the LACMA 50th Anniversary Gala sponsored by Christie's at LACMA on April 18, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for LACMA)

Burden_Web-thumb-275xautoToday we bring you the second installment of “Speakeasy,” an occasional special podcast in which we chat off-the-cuff, and share never-before-heard bits that didn’t make it into our weekly episodes. In this edition, Rico and Brendan talk about Chris Burden — one of America’s most important and respected conceptual artists — who died this Sunday at the age of 69. Burden rose to prominence in the art scene in the early ’70s with unsettling performance pieces, and his 2008 installation, “Urban Light,” has become a world-renowned symbol of Los Angeles. Brendan shares a story about a chance meeting with Burden… and Rico presents an extended cut of his 2011 interview with him, centered on the artist’s slot-car extravaganza “Metropolis II.”