Bryan Lewis Saunders (born 1969 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) is an endurance artist, a

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

videographer Videography involves capturing moving images on electronic media (such as: videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage), and can include streaming media. It encompasses both video production and post-production methods. Histori ...

performance poet Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. It covers a variety of styles and genres. History The phenomenon of performance poetry, a kind of poetry specifically made for and offer ...

, and

self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...

er known for his disturbing

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

rants, tragic art performances and stand-up tragedy.

Career

On March 30, 1995, Saunders began drawing at least one self-portrait every day for the rest of his life. For 11 days in 2001, Saunders conducted an experiment in which he ingested or inhaled a different intoxicant every day and created a self-portrait under the influence documenting the effects of his altered perception. On May 16, 2010, Saunders performed in the Palau de la Virreina as part of the International Poetry Festival in Barcelona alongside

Bibbe Hansen Bibbe Hansen is an American performance artist, musician and actress. Family Hansen's parents were Bohemian Jewish poet Audrey Ostlin Hansen and Fluxus artist Al Hansen, a participant in the Andy Warhol Factory. Her stepfather was Jimmy Shapiro ...

, Eugene S. Robinson and

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

as "The Ugly Americans". In January 2011, a selection of the drug-induced self-portraits presented online went viral. In 2003, Saunders began sleeping with a cassette recorder and documenting both his dreams and

somniloquy Somniloquy, commonly referred to as sleep-talking, is a parasomnia in which one speaks aloud while asleep. It can range from simple mumbling sounds to loud shouts or long, frequently inarticulate, speeches. It can occur many times during a sleep c ...

which led to a wealth of source material for both audio releases and books. The transcriptions of his lengthy somniloquy are an example of the

stream of unconsciousness In literary criticism, stream of unconsciousness is a narrative mode that portrays an individual's point of view by transcribing the author's unconscious dialogue or ''somniloquy'' during sleep, in connection to their actions within a dream. Str ...

method of writing."Episode 5: Recent Sleep Works." ''Glossolalia''. Resonance 104.4 FM, London. 17 May 2010. Radio. On March 30, 2015, on Saunders' 20-year anniversary of drawing a self-portrait a day, the feature-length documentary ''Art of Darkness'' was released worldwide on various on-demand platforms. The film, by David Parker, is an intimate profile that includes candid interviews with Saunders and highlights of the artist's life; from troubled childhood through his various art experiments including his infamous "drug series" of self-portraits. In an interview he claimed to have sustained mild

brain damage Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common ...

as the result of his experimentation with drugs.

Works

Discography (Incomplete) *''The Inner Demon Demos Vol. 1-3'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2006) *''Songs About Huffing'' (Teenage Whore Tapes 2008) *''Fur Die Hunde'' with

Kommissar Hjuler Kommissar Hjuler (born Detlev Hjuler; 1967) works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise (music), Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist, film maker and police officer at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often work ...

und

Frau ''Honorifics'' are words that connote esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. In the German language, honorifics distinguish people by age, sex, profession, academic achievement, and rank. In the past, a distinction was ...

(SHMF 2008) *''Daku: Bryan Lewis Saunders and

Z'EV Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951 – December 16, 2017) was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of indu ...

'' (Outfall Channel 2009) *''Craigslist'' (Anti Everything Noise 2009) *''A/Mei/Sen: Bryan Lewis Saunders mit

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'' (Scumbag Relations 2009) *''Der Muter Object Fur Die Hunde:

and

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Mama Baer Mama Baer (born Andrea Katharina Ingeborg Göthling; 29 October 1981) is a German sound recordist of noise music and post-industrial music. She is a filmmaker and visual artist in Flensburg. She has had solo and group art exhibitions around the wor ...

and Bryan Lewis Saunders'' (Blossoming Noise 2010) *''Near Death Experience'' (Erratum 2010) *''Bed Bugs 1-3'' (Private Leisure Industries 2011) *''... from the world of burning red bugs'' with

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(Psych.KG 2017) Sleep Works *''N1-N4 Variations: Vocal Documentation From All Four Sleep Stages'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2008) *''Animus Chora: Spirit Receptacle'' (Belsona Strategic 2009) *''Torso'' (Colin Johnco Records 2009) *''87 Dreams Of A Sociopath'' ( Surrism-Phonoethics 2010) *''Le Bobcat: Bryan Lewis Saunders and Raymond Dijkstra'' (

Fragment Factory Fragment Factory is an independent record label and mail-order house based in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 2009 by Michael Muennich ( born 1980). The label specializes in releasing experimental electronic music in the broadest sense, including el ...

2010) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 1 with Hopi Torvald and

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'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2011) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 2 with Razen and Classwar Karaoke Friends'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2011) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 3 with Evil Moisture and Wehwalt'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2011) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 4 with Love, Execution Style and Adam Bohman & Adrian Northover'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2012) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 5 with Yoshihiro Kikuchi and Christopher Fleeger'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2012) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 6 with Sinus Buds and Andy Ortmann'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 7 with Joke Lanz and Dylan Nyoukis'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 8 with Lee Gamble and

Carl Michael von Hausswolff Carl Michael von Hausswolff (born 1956) is a composer, visual artist, and curator based in Stockholm, Sweden. His main tools are recording devices (camera, tape deck, radar, sonar) used in an ongoing investigation of electricity, frequency, ar ...

'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 9 with

Leif Elggren Leif Elggren (born 1950, Linköping, Sweden), is a Swedish artist who lives and works in Stockholm. Active since the late 1970s, Leif Elggren has become one of the most constantly surprising conceptual artists to work in the combined worlds of a ...

and John Moloney'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 10 with Language of Light and Matt Reis'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 11 with Offerings and Requiem'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''Stream of Unconscious Vol. 12 with Hopek Quirin and Michael Esposito'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) *''The Confessor'' (Stand-Up Tragedy Records 2013) Videography *''I'm Not Dead-I'm Schizotypal'' (2000) *''Where's Mao Now When You Need Him?'' (2005) *''Sex, Drugs and Institutions'' (2007) *''Missing Child'' (2008) *''Sign It!'' (2008) *''Bed Bugs II'' (2008) *''

Steve Mackay Steve Mackay (September 25, 1949 – October 10, 2015) was an American tenor saxophonist best known for his membership in the Stooges. His performances are showcased on three songs on the band's second album, '' Fun House'' (1970). The Stoo ...

and the Radon Ensemble "Hidden Away" Live 2008'' (2009) *''Slobberscope'' (2009) *''Near Death Experience'' (2010) *''Bryan Lewis Saunders & James Hollenbaugh'' (2012) Bibliography *''Sex, Drugs and Institutionz'' (2008) *''87 Dreams of a Sociopath'' (2010) *''The Reasons Why I Dream with Knives'' (2010) *''Channel Zero'' (2011) *''The Confessor'' (2012) *''Protective Geometry with drawings by

Ed Pinsent Edward Pinsent (born 1960) is a British cartoonist, artist, and writer. Biography Ed Pinsent is the son of the classical scholar John Pinsent and was brought up in the city of Liverpool. Pinsent has written and drawn his own small press comics ...

'' (2012) *''Authentic Soup Kitchen Menus'' (2013) *''Autoportraits Sous Drogues'' (2013) *''Gregor Mendel Mutations'' (2013) *''We Don't Need Another Doctor, We Can Run Our Own Tests'' (2014) *''La Troisième Oreille et Autres Textes'' (2014)

References

External links

Official WebsiteDiscogsErratum2009 InterviewViceland Today Interview Jon Ronson, ''Bryan Saunders: portrait of the artist on crystal meth,'' The Guardian, 1 December 2012Art of Darkness documentary website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Bryan Lewis 1969 births Artists from Washington, D.C. American performance artists American video artists Living people East Tennessee State University alumni