The Birth of a Dream
Published June 09, 2025 · 1:31 · 33,150 views
About This Video
Somewhere in the mountains behind Van's house lies the compound and studio of Chris Burden, a now deceased great artist. If you live in Los Angeles, you're probably familiar with his sculpture Urban Light outside LACMA. Or Metropolis 2, the world's most elaborate Hot Wheels set, currently in the permanent collection. It was Metropolis 2 and Chris Burden that brought Van to Topanga for the very first time, some 10 years ago. He helped shoot a video by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost at Burden's studio.
And the dream of living in the canyon was born. Now Van lives there with a new dream: maybe if he does enough work and makes enough money, one day he can buy Chris Burden's compound. Many millions of dollars. A long shot. But he doesn't have to be successful. He just has to die trying.
Transcript
Somewhere in these mountains, behind this spirited man's house, lies the compound and studio of a now deceased great artist named Chris Burden.
Contemporary artists are virtually unknown to the general public these days. But if you live in Los Angeles,
you're probably familiar with his sculpture called Urban Light, which flanks the entrance to the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art. Maybe you've seen Metropolis 2, basically the world's most incredible Hot Wheels action set,
currently in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was Metropolis 2 and Chris Burton that
brought this spirited man to Tanga for the very first time some 10 years ago.
He helped shoot this video by Ariel Schulman and Henry Just.
Here they shot it here at Burton's studio in Tanka Canyon. And this spirited man's dream of living in the
canyon was born. And now he lives here with a new dream. Maybe if he does enough work and makes enough money,
maybe one day this spirited man can buy Chris Burden's compound. It's a long shot,
many millions of dollars, but this spirited man doesn't have to be successful. He just has to die trying.
People Referenced
Chris Burden, Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost