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Chris Burden «Chris Burden Promo» | Chris Burden Promo (still 1)
Chris Burden, «Chris Burden Promo», 1976
Chris Burden Promo (still 1) | Videostill | ©


 Chris Burden
«Chris Burden Promo»

I purchased 24 30-second commercial spots on two New York television channels, Channel 4 and Channel 9, and 21 spots on three Los Angeles channels, Channel 5, Channel 11 and Channel 13. My «ad»consisted of a series of names: «Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Chris Burden.» The series was repeated twice and followed by the disclaimer «paid by Chris Burden - artist.» The names were written in bold graphics - yellow letters on a blue ground. The individual names zoomed forward, starting very small and increasing in size until they filled the entire screen. As the names became readable, I spoke them aloud. The first five names were chosen from the results of a nationwide survey which showed them to be the most well-known artists to the general public.
(Source: Chris Burden, Beyond the limits, exhib. cat.. MAK, p. 126, Cantz: Ostfildern, 1996)