"Everyone is an Artist"
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/beuys/room4.shtmBeuys in Performance, "I Like America and America Likes Me," 1974.
Joseph Beuys once said "everyone is an artist." The more I read about Beuys, the more I am fascinated by his ability to create ACTION and his dabbles with a wide-range of art such as conceptual, environmental, politcial, performance, video, and sculptural. This man had some ignited enegry in him and he wasn't going to keep it quiet. He spread his love for art to all and revived what he felt has been lost in our world. He often talked about uniting the Western man with the Eastern man (the analytical man with the intuitive man).
What Beuys meant about everyone being an artist is that creativity is not just for artist, but for all. And that he teaches creative thinking to anyone, which will impact all facets of society and people. Thus his slogans were "Art=Captial" or "Creativity=Capital." If it were not for people like Beuys, I may have never considered making art nor would I have found my own calling in art.
Beuys founded the Free International University, after he was dismissed from another college for opening up the art program to any one who wanted to study. He focused on life values and the "creative interchange on the basis of equality between teachers and learners." (http://www.walkerart.org/archive/8/9C430DB110DED6686167.htm)
In 1982, Beuys started 7000 Oaks for the Documenta 7. Following his own philosophy that art serves a greater purpose than aesthetics, Beuys began to transform urban landscapes throughout Europe by adding trees to city landscapes. Even after his death (1986), his art-making project is still going on today.
1. A Biography About Joseph Beuy
http://www.walkerart.org/archive/A/A343C5E357CE790B6174.htm
2. Beuys Tree Planting Plans, 7000 Oaks
http://www.diacenter.org/ltproj/7000/7000.html
3. Beuys' Impact on Society and Earth Continues to Grow
http://www.middlebury.edu/arts/capp/artists/beuys.htm
http://www.dmcsoft.com/beuys/exh2.html
http://www.walkerart.org/archive/E/A24315825E9BEAE26130.htm
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewProduct?id=17180
posted by Daphne at 11:49 PM
2 Comments:
sara
i researched beuys seriously, with passion, last spring. his ideas were pretty amazing; the way he went about things is questionable in my opinion.
there is a fab book written in which beuys is compared to duchamp. it's a fascinating topic to me, but the article states that the two men were antithesis of one another. in fact, beuys didn't like duchamp. yet they both needed on another to be themselves; we owe all of modern art to both of them.
i'll look for the reference.
let's talk about beuys...
Wonderful. I will look forward to our talk. I recently started reading about Beuys, which explains my strong enthusiasm at this point. I'll be interested in what you meant by questionable. But alas we will we meet up at our "Free International University."
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