Five Day Locker Piece by Chris Burden is a captivating performance artwork that pushed the boundaries of endurance, confinement and what can be considered art. In this daring piece, Burden willingly confined himself to locker number 5 in a row of lockers at the University of California, Irvine for an uninterrupted five-day period.

An adjacent locker held five gallons of bottled water directly above Burden, while another locker below contained an empty five-gallon bottle, intensifying the physical and psychological challenges. Burden prepared his body for this work by not eating solid food for days prior to the performance artwork, adding an additional layer of meticulous preparation and exploration.

Five Day Locker Piece ignited debates among observers, while campus police and the dean's office contemplated ending the performance for Burden's safety. This daring artwork marked the beginning of Burden's career using his body as a medium to explore themes of risk, endurance, and the audience's moral dilemma. Five Day Locker Piece invites us to question our perceptions of freedom, endurance, and the human spirit.

"People with no particular interest in art started showing up, turning the performance into 'a public confessional where a steady stream of people would come to talk to me'"

Samson by Chris Burden is a powerful installation that challenges the effect and impact of institutional critique and the transformative actions of a museum-going public. This thought-provoking sculptural artwork consists of a 100-ton jack, connected to a gear box and a turnstile, strategically positioned in the museum.

As each visitor passes through the turnstile, the 100-ton jack applies pressure to two large timbers, forcefully pushing against the museum's bearing walls. Every input on the turnstile, seemingly minimal, contributes to the expansion of the jack. In a theoretical scenario where a significant number of visitors visit the museum, Samson could potentially bring down the entire building. According to Burden, its impact, "akin to the gradual movement of a glacier, remains imperceptible to the naked eye."

Burden's work defies the conventional notion of the museum as a sacred space. It subverts the sanctity associated with the physical structure housing art, offering a profound and literal critique of institutional spaces. Samson invites contemplation on the public's role in effecting change, even through seemingly inconspicuous actions.

"Even though there's a lot of equipment, this is really a conceptual sculpture."

Tower of Power demands attention. Meticulously stacked in a small pyramid and encased in a vitrine are one hundred one-kilo bricks of pure gold. Surrounding the tower on the marble base, sixteen matchstick men pay homage in various forms, creating a striking juxtaposition between the towering scale of gold and the diminutive figures that encircle it.

Beyond the visual power of the work, the viewing experience of Tower of Power adds to its allure. During Burden's retrospective at the New Museum in 2013, the artwork was said to hold a staggering value of $4.4 million in metal alone. The borrowing institution needs to take on the added responsibility of supplying the gold and ensuring its safety. To ensure this level of security, only one visitor was permitted to witness it at a time, meticulously monitored by external security personnel. Accessible solely from the museum's third floor, viewers had to ascend a staircase between floors, arriving at an alcove that served as a gateway to the artwork. The experience added an additional layer of ceremony to the artwork, and invites further contemplation on the concept of value, and the allure of gold.

"Like the matchstick men, our lives are relatively transient and consumable in relationship to the ascribed and lasting power of gold."