Joseph-Beuys

Joseph Beuys

Germany

 

Joseph Beuys (1921–1986), one of the most controversial artists in the international art field, was enlightened by the esoteric philosophy of the German mystic Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). Beuys’ shamanic performances, unorthodox choice of materials, and his idea that "everyone is an artist" influenced the way people thought about art. He embraced radicalism and the concept of "social sculpture" integrated with an anarchy vision, which led him to promote an idea of expanded art, and that idea is adopted and developed by numerous artists and activists.



I Feed Myself With Waste of Energy Handwriting on white paper plate 12 × 18 cm 1978 On this small and empty plate, Joseph Beuys wrote, “I feed myself with waste of energy.”
Eurasia Rod Book+DVD: Eurasia Rod, 1967; movie, 1968, fragment 20min Sound: Henning Christiansen fluxorum organum From: 82min fluxorum organum Cameraman: Paul de Fru DVD: Copy from video film 1972, b/w, sound, 22'46'', 2005 Joseph Beuys Media-archive, National Gallery, State Museums, Berlin Eurasia Rod is a film recording of the performance of the same name, which took place in 1968 at the Wide White Space Gallery in Antwerp. For Joseph Beuys, Eurasia is a utopian combination of Europe and Asia and of East and West. The film shows Joseph Beuys performing a ritual that symbolically reconciles the four corners of the Eurasian supercontinent. Beuys uses a long copper staff, the “Eurasienstab,” or “Eurasia staff,” to connect the intellectual and spiritual qualities of these parts of the world in an allegorical way. The artist wears felt-covered metal shoes as he smears the corners of the room with fat.
X