In
the Arena documentary screened as part of the Signpost lecture series
we come face to face with Joseph Beuys,
one of the most controversial artists of the twentieth century.
Like
Marcel Duchamp before him, Beuys often took raw, relatively
unmediated materials and presented them as sculpture (the change
to these materials was often only achieved by juxtaposition
- the uniting of disparate elements - and their recontextualisation
as 'art objects' usually leading to their presentation in a
gallery. Unlike Duchamp (or at least in differing ways), Beuys
deliberately drew on myth, including his own mythologised history,
to animate his works. Whereas Duchamp primarily addressed the
intellect, Beuys would claim to be working towards a language
of the soul. Rather than adopt an elitist stance however, Beuys
took great pains to find pragmatic ways of realising his ideas
and articulating his notion that everyone had the capability
of being an artist. It was often these practical steps that
led to the greatest controversies - the opening of the teaching
institutions to any interested parties - the involvement with
nascent Green party politics - the recommending to Northern
Ireland that the people there could learn lessons from the way
stones in the Giant Causeway lock together.
For a sometimes troubled and introspective personality, Beuys
was often surprisingly open to working with collaborators ranging
from students, housewives, municipal workers through to fellow
artists such as Nam June Paik and other members of the Fluxus
group.
Shaman, Charlatan, witty fool or foolish wit Beuys embodies
many of the problems, aspirations and contradictions facing
the contemporary artist and is therefore a richly provocative
figure when used as a measure for one's own artistic ideals
and intentions.
References:
Books
(can be found in the college library under 708.9 BEU)
Bastian H. (ed.), (1999), 'Joseph Beuys: Drawings - The secret
block for a secret person in Ireland', Royal Academy of Arts,
London
Kuoni, Carin, (compiler), (1990), 'Josef Beuys in America' -
Energy Plan for the Western Man Writings by and interviews with
the artist, Four Walls Eight Windows, New York
Moffit, J. (1988), 'Occultism in Avant Garde Art', UMI Research
Press, London
Rose, Bernice and Ann Temkin (eds.), (1993), 'Thinking is Form
- The Drawings of Joseph Beuys', Thames and Hudson
Stachelhaus, H., (1987), 'Joseph Beuys', Abbeville Press, New
York
Staek, Klaus and Gerhard Steidl, (1987), 'Beuys in America'
(PR: a photographic essay), Steidl publishers, Gottingen and
Edition Staeck, Heidelberg
Links:
Joseph
Beuys: Past the Affable an
article written by Greg
Masters
"...Beauty, however, becomes an archaic concept in
Beuys's sphere. Not that what we recognize as beautiful
is banished. Rather, that limitation of regarding beauty
as an object of veneration or a holding a mirror up to
the ideal is extended. Beuys creates a new idea of beauty.'
This is an interesting site and a good source of further
Beuys links and images
'A
Brief Biography' -Joan
Rothfuss, Walker Art Center curator, and also (same page): 'Actions'
- Emily Rekow, Walker Art Center, Department of Education
and Community Programs
A useful but not too brief article
on the Beuys lifestory and a short article on Beuys' use
of performance art.
MATERIAL
AS METAPHOR - a 'hyperessay' by Julie Luckenbach
- from Beuys/Logos
'Whether they are found or made, autonomous sculptural
objects or relics of a past performance, Beuys' objects
exist in a metaphoric field--on a continuum of fluid connections
and associations from which metaphors emerge and radiate.'
If
Beuys had witnessed the Internet I'm sure he would have
applauded some of the radical strategies found in this
beautifully presented and well-written essay.
Teaching
Materials 
Felt
Suit
Multiples