What Is Art? Conversations with Joseph Beuys

by Joseph Beuys, Volker Harlan

"I know that from him [Rudolf Steiner] a mission was given to me to gradually remove people’s alienation and mistrust toward the supersensible through my means. In political thinking—the field I have to be working on daily—it is a matter of realizing the Threefold Social Order as quickly as possible." —Joseph Beuys, in a letter to Manfred Schradi, October 21, 1971 Joseph Beuys’s work continues to influence and inspire artists and thinkers around the world—in areas from organizational learning, direct democracy, and new forms of money, to new methods of art education and the practice of "ecological art." Volker Harlan—a close colleague of Beuys—whose own work also explores substance and sacrament—talked with Beuys about the deeper motivations and insights behind "social sculpture" and his expanded view of art. These profound reflections, complemented by Harlan’s thoughtful essays, give a sense of the interconnected nature of all life forms and provide the basis for a path toward a future that is ecologically sustainable. Features more than forty illustrations.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Philosophy

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Joseph Heinrich Beuys (/bɔɪs/ BOYSS, German: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈbɔʏs]) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art movement known as Fluxus and was a key figure in the development of Happenings.

Beuys is known for his "extended definition of art" in which the ideas of social sculpture could potentially reshape society and politics. He frequently held open public debates on a wide range of subjects, including political, environmental, social, and long-term cultural issues.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the human being desires to be an artist — and everyone can become an artist — he also has to try to understand the nature of what surrounds him. Each of his multiples is, as he said in conversation with Schellmann and Klüser, a reminder of this task. Even if Beuys no longer lives in an external sense, and has crossed the threshold of death, he has passed on the flame, as he said in his Lehmbruck talk. All who have a piece of work by Beuys, whether a single piece or a multiple, can sense their participation in this flame which Beuys spoke of passing on. Passed on, the flame doesn’t get smaller. Into the coldness of our materialistic and intellectual age, he sent a sledge bearing a thick blanket to warm those who ride it, to warm the world which they encounter.

[Philippe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years ago, I read Philip Ursprung’s study of Beuys Joseph Beuys: Kunst Kapital Revolution, which provided a solid introduction to his work within the broader context of postwar socio-political developments. However, as I noted in my review, the book lacked engagement with "Beuys’ more hermetic side—the shamanic quality of his presence and performances, as well as the profoundly romantic inspiration behind his work (and the inevitable ethnonationalist resonances that accompany it)."

This slim volume fills that gap by foregrounding Beuys’ own voice in conversation with Volker Harlan. Their exchange took place in 1979 in the foyer of St. John’s Church in Bochum where Harlan served as a pastor. At the time, Beuys was 58, and Harlan just over 40. Trained in both theology and biology Harlan would soon co-found Germany’s first anthroposophically-inspired private university at Witten-Herdecke in the early 1980s. Anthroposophy refers to the teachings developed by Rudolf Steiner in the early 20th century. It reflects a esotericist worldview that encompasses elements of various religious and spiritual traditions.

The book consists of two main parts: a transcript of the Beuys-Harlan conversation and a substantial postscript by Harlan in the form of an essay. In articulating his views, Harlan is at pains to highlight the convergence between elements from Steiner's doctrine and Beuys' ideas, attempting to underline their visionary reach and spiritual depth. More recently, Hans-Peter Riegel has played on the same connection to expose Beuys as a sectarian and a closet Blut-und-Boden ideologue. Despite these liabilities also for Riegel the importance of Beuys' artistic and pedagogic contributions remains, however, beyond doubt.

What Beuys actually has to say seems far more compelling than these partisan skirmishes - both in substance and in style. Given his esoteric influences, one might expect his language to be dense and abstruse. Yet, his way of expressing himself is strikingly precise and often grounded in direct personal experience. Already in the first few pages, he articulates one of his most fundamental theses- ‘everyone is an artist’ - in simple terms by contrasting a 'middle class concept of art' with a notion that sees it as an 'anthropological concept'. I'm veering a bit from Beuys' discourse by saying that politically speaking the former sees art as something that is produced, commodified and consumed by different groups in society. Epistemologically it is associated with a 'retinal' concept of art, as something that is essentially grasped by the eye. In contrast, the anthropological view frames it as a constant in our existence, as something "that once more describes the essence of being human, the human being as the expression of freedom, embodying, carrying forward and further evolving the world’s evolutionary impulse." It is worth pausing at this statement. Intellectually one can decode it as a hybrid of esotericist and idealist ideas. And yet it is also pointer to a generative capacity of which in principle anyone can partake. That capacity is a given but has to be reactivated and practiced. Beuys explains trenchantly, and beautifully, this process of unceasing preparation that grows and facilitates our capacity for worlding. This process of continuous preparation is intimately woven into the fabric of the world.

Art is life is an alchemy that hinges on the interplay between energy (as the potential for change), warmth (as the impulse of activation of the energy in human affairs), and substance (as a tangible/intangible intersection of energy forces). This constitutes a fundamental break with 'the retinal'. It also follows "that this artistic process is possible in all professions; that this process is possible in every field of work, and can be seen in conjunction with the issue of human work."

Beuys stresses the necessarily social, collaborative nature of this work. There is a beautiful passage that echoes stirring lines that I read in Jung's autobiography and resonate strongly with my own ethos.

"I don’t go any further than that and say that I’ve achieved anything. I say only that I have done certain experiments and explorations that have stimulated discussion. They were, in fact, only successful once they provoked discussion. Further than this, I don’t go. I certainly do not claim that any lasting value attaches to these experiments that I have conducted. That cannot be my concern. My concern can only be whether one can instigate this kind of process, this movement; in other words, whether one can bring people to and into this kind of movement, in the culture that holds and has held sway, and has numbed them into inaction; whether things can be freed up and released, so that people accomplish this together. That is where my interest lies, in fact; again it’s a therapeutic interest you might say, a medical, chemical, therapeutic interest in making something happen, that extends right into political action – which is not really political since the concept of politics is no longer appropriate."

To be an artist is to rekindle our capacity to experience and reenact life’s evolutionary principle. From this core insight—one that arguably aligns with a long tradition of Romantic and ultimately esoteric thought—Beuys develops a distinctive aesthetics, politics, and ecology. While its emphatic anthroposophical framing may not resonate with all readers, this book offers a valuable and accessible introduction to Beuys' world.


Joseph Beuys, Joseph Beuys extends Ulysses with six further chapters on behalf of James Joyce, notebook 1, Photo: Wolfgang Fuhrmannek, HLMD.

[Catherine]

It's just great to read Beuys speaking. I also really enjoyed something in the foreward to the conversations with Beuys where the writer talks about a different formulation of 'the aesthetic' which goes back to its origins as the opposite of 'anaesthetic' or numbness. From this perspective, aesthetic comes to mean 'enlivened being'. This not only turns the contemporary usage of 'aesthetic', as something rather cosmetic and superficial, on its head, but links such 'enlivened being' to responsibility, not as a moral imperitive, but to response-ability or the ability to respond! So this overcoming of numbness and enlivening of being can engage one, make one internally active, mobilize people's imaginations.

[Joni Cornell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beuys clarifies what he means when he says that everyone is an artist. Fascinating to hear about the meaning behind his use of such substances as honey, copper and felt to name a few, through the conversation unfolding. We also get an impression of his sense of humour. Enjoyable as well as insightful...

[Yates Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the conventional philosophical view of art and its purpose. Joseph is the classic reference for theory in contemporary art.

The book is a Q&A session but one in which the interviewer takes on inordinate presence, which at times is annoying.

[Teun Voost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way to get to know Beuys

[Marika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!

[Cai · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful perspective towards life

[Jovanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it definitely has its ups and downs, it is a bit confusing at the beginning to fully grap all of Beuys concepts since they are quite abstract and they go from one place to the other, but i think towards the end where the interviewer goes into detail about certain philosophies behind Beuys thoughts and his work everything gets a little clearer.

[Tara H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty fascinating stuff from the man himself.