Bryan Lewis Saunders


Bryan Lewis Saunders is an endurance artist, a performance artist, videographer, performance poet, and self-portrait painter known for his disturbing spoken word 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, Eugene S. Robinson and Lydia Lunch 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 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 method of writing.
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 reported that his drug experimentation left him with mild brain damage involving psychomotor retardation and confusion.

Works

Discography
  • The Inner Demon Demos Vol. 1-3
  • Songs About Huffing
  • Fur Die Hunde with Kommissar Hjuler und Frau
  • Daku: Bryan Lewis Saunders and Z'EV
  • Craigslist
  • A/Mei/Sen: Bryan Lewis Saunders mit Kommissar Hjuler und Frau
  • Der Muter Object Fur Die Hunde: Z'EV and Kommissar Hjuler und Mama Baer and Bryan Lewis Saunders
  • Near Death Experience
  • Bed Bugs 1-3
  • … from the world of burning red bugs with Kommissar Hjuler und Frau
Sleep Works
  • N1-N4 Variations: Vocal Documentation From All Four Sleep Stages
  • Animus Chora: Spirit Receptacle
  • Torso
  • 87 Dreams Of A Sociopath
  • Le Bobcat: Bryan Lewis Saunders and Raymond Dijkstra
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 1 with Hopi Torvald and Kommissar Hjuler und Frau
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 2 with Razen and Classwar Karaoke Friends
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 3 with Evil Moisture and Wehwalt
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 4 with Love, Execution Style and Adam Bohman & Adrian Northover
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 5 with Yoshihiro Kikuchi and Christopher Fleeger
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 6 with Sinus Buds and Andy Ortmann
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 7 with Joke Lanz and Dylan Nyoukis
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 8 with Lee Gamble and Carl Michael von Hausswolff
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 9 with Leif Elggren and John Moloney
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 10 with Language of Light and Matt Reis
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 11 with Offerings and Requiem
  • Stream of Unconscious Vol. 12 with Hopek Quirin and Michael Esposito
  • The Confessor
Videography
  • I'm Not Dead-I'm Schizotypal
  • Where's Mao Now When You Need Him?
  • Sex, Drugs and Institutions
  • Missing Child
  • Sign It!
  • Bed Bugs II
  • Steve Mackay and the Radon Ensemble "Hidden Away" Live 2008
  • Slobberscope
  • Near Death Experience
  • Bryan Lewis Saunders & James Hollenbaugh
Bibliography