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Joseph
Beuys was born in Krefeld in 1921. From an early age Beuys displayed a keen interest in the natural sciences
and had considered a career in medical studies before volunteering for the Luftwaffe in 1940. On 16 March 1944 Beuysâs JU87 plane crashed on the Crimean Front and Beuys later
recounted how he had been rescued from the crash by Tartar tribesmen, who had
wrapped his broken body in animal fat and felt and nursed him back to health.
Through
his drawing practice, Beuys explored a range of unconventional materials and
developed his artistic agenda, exploring metaphorical and symbolic connections
between natural phenomena and philosophical systems. In 1962 Beuys befriended his Düsseldorf colleague Nam June Paik, a member of the Fluxus movement. It
was during the 1960s that Beuys formulated his central theoretical concepts concerning the
social, cultural and political function and potential of art. This translated
into Beuysâs formulation of the concept of Social Sculpture, in which society as a whole was to
be regarded as one great work of art (the Wagnerian Gesamtkunswerk) to which
each person can contribute creatively. Beuys founded (or co-founded) the
following political organisations: German Student Party (1967),
Organization for Direct Democracy Through Referendum (1971), and Beuys
became a pacifist, was a vocal opponent of nuclear weapons and campaigned
strenuously for environmental causes. He died on January |