Chris Burden – Buddha's Fingers
January 27, 2016 by Matthew Klassen 
Info
Gagosian Gallery
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075
January 19 – February 20, 2016
Words
"Buddha's Fingers (2014–15) is a dense cluster of 32 antique cast-iron vernacular street lamps, electrified with cool, bright LED bulbs and standing almost 12 feet tall. The work is related to Urban Light (2008), Burden's celebrated permanent installation of 202 lamp posts, which stands at the entrance to LACMA in Los Angeles. In 2000, Burden began collecting the street lamps that used to line residential streets in Los Angeles during the 1920s and 1930s, and repurposed them as sculptural installations. In Buddha’s Fingers, the hexagonal lamp bases are set in a tight honeycomb formation. The whimsical title refers to the fingered citrus fruit 'buddha's hand,' a recurrent still-life motif and subject in classical Asian art, and a religious symbol of happiness, longevity, and good fortune."
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