Joseph Beuys
German · 1921–1986
German artist and provocateur who expanded the definition of art to encompass social transformation, declaring that everyone is an artist and that creativity itself — "social sculpture" — is the fundamental force for reshaping society.
Wikipedia ↗“Das Schweigen von Marcel Duchamp wird überbewertet.”
German
“The silence of Marcel Duchamp is overrated. Duchamp's gesture of withdrawal was aristocratic — a refusal to engage with the world. I propose the opposite: total engagement. Art must enter the street, the factory, the parliament, the school.”
“Jeder Mensch ist ein Künstler. Damit sage ich nicht, dass jeder malen oder bildhauern soll.”
German
“Every human being is an artist. I don't mean that everyone should paint or sculpt — I mean that the creativity residing in every person is the real capital of society. When we recognize this, we transform not only art but the entire social organism.”
“Der Begriff der sozialen Plastik bedeutet, dass jede Entscheidung, jedes Gespräch ein Akt des Gestaltens ist.”
German
“The concept of social sculpture means that every decision, every conversation, every way of organizing work and distributing resources is an act of sculpting. Politics is sculpture. Economics is sculpture. Education is the highest form of art.”
“Fett und Filz sind nicht wegen ihrer ästhetischen Qualitäten gewählt.”
German
“Fat and felt are not chosen for their aesthetic qualities. Fat stores energy and can be shaped when warm but holds its form when cold — it is a metaphor for human potential. Felt insulates and protects. These are the materials of survival, not of beauty.”
“Ich denke, der Baum ist ein Element der Regeneration, das in sich selbst ein Zeitbegriff ist.”
German
“I think the tree is an element of regeneration which in itself is a concept of time. The oak is especially so because it is a slowly growing tree with a kind of really solid heartwood. It has always been a form of sculpture, a symbol of this planet.”