Beuys

---

1

It's just like Hollywood here.

The anonymous viewer is back there, yeah?

I mean if you're...

Let's say you're standing

in front of a group of people.

Then it's best

to reach them all at the same time.

That's best.

You have an idea

of what's going on inside of people.

Some people are very good at that.

They have this special talent.

For example, they walk into a room

and can instantly sense

the inner questions of everyone present.

I mean it's...

There's been a lot of that.

That's it!

Beuys speaking.

Good morning, Mr. Beuys.

- Good morning.

Our colleague from Midday Journal

was speaking to Professor Joseph Beuys.

Mr. Beuys, hem popular

would you say you are?

How should! know?

What do you want me to say?

Do you wan! me {o say

"Force 12" or something?

Why not express it in wind force?

All right, so Yd say I've reached

{he end of {he scale,

about hurricane force.

And as you know;

storm comes before hurricane.

Mr. Beuys, thank you very much

and I wish you continuing success.

It was meant to be an event

and that's what it is.

A German event for New York.

Beuys is here and everybody knows it.

Joseph Beuys is exhibiling his art

at the Guggenheim Museum

and New Yorks press

is doing all it can to help explain it.

Hanging, lying and standing

on a 432-meter continuous ramp

is almost his entire output

of graphic art and sculpture.

Waiting upstairs

are the felt-covered piano from 1966,

as well as the "Fat Chair"

and the "Honey Pump."

"Forget the conventional idea of an.

Anyone can be an artist.

Anything can be an, especially

anything that conserves energy"

This is the shortcut formula for an.

The magazine Capital named him Number 1

in the international art business,

ousting Warhol and Rauschenberg

from the top positions.

When did they let him out of the hospital?

Do you know when?

It's like the remnants

of a construction site.

I was disappointed.

It was fascinating.

The felt piano was more accessible

than other objects.

For me, it's a new way

of thinking about art.

-...but it stays the same?

- That's right. You empty it.

You drink the contents and throw away

the cap. That's what's left.

But you're aware that you're moving away

from the traditional concept of art?

- Yes, of course...

- And you really don't care

that people say, "What Beuys is doing

has nothing to do with art."

- Or do you...?

- Of course I don't care.

An, yes,

but in a totally different sense.

The concept of what an is

has expanded to such a degree

that, for me, there's nothing left of it.

But within a comprehensive system

it's possible

that a traditional concept of art

might be able to keep its place,

in a hermetically sealed form.

It would circle around like an atom,

somewhere inside this system.

But the concept of art has been expanded

so far that every normal situation is art.

- Every situation or action...?

- Yes.

It's no longer an object

that you hang on a wall...

Now if one takes this position

of an expanded concept of art,

which is exactly my position anyway,

most people will regard it as esoteric,

insane, remote,

marginal, peripheral...

And so on and so forth.

That's obvious.

Mr. Beuys...

At last year's an fair in Cologne,

you exhibited a work

that consisted of a Volkswagen bus...

out of which are coming a large number...

Maybe 20, correct me if I'm wrong...

-40!

-...40 small sleds,

all of them exactly the same,

and I found it amusing.

- That isn't what I wanted to say...

- But that's good!

- No!

- But that's great! Why not?

But...

Do you want to stamp out laughter and fun,

to have a revolution without laughter?

I have a specific question...

I want to get my moneys worth

out of this revolution!

I believe you.

Is that...?

And I want others

to get their money's worth!

I believe you. But I want to ask you...

Why didn't you use baby buggies?

Why not?

Because I chose the subject.

You should do something with baby buggies!

And see if you can make something

that interests people!

Max Bill...

I agree with Mr. Beuys

that were here to think.

But it's not necessary

to think until daybreak.

So...

If we take what Picasso said,

"The purpose of an

is not to decorate our apartments,

it's a weapon against the enemy."

The question is:
Who is the enemy?

Professor Gehlen, you said the boundaries

of an had expanded enormously

and that you no longer

feel provoked by art.

Do you feel challenged by his works,

or do you see his art, or anti-art,

as a stimulating element? Or...

What's my work got to do with anything?

It's irrelevant.

We're talking about a theory.

We're talking about something

far beyond my work.

Let's throw my work out of the window!

- And your work as well! Maybe...

- What is it you want?

I want to expand peoples consciousness,

especially regarding

the current political situation.

- Okay...

- I don't believe we live in a democracy.

I don't believe we're taught

to be free human beings

due to our party-political bureaucracy.

- I'm willing to provoke right now!

- Me, too!

First of all,

I want to return to the original topic.

If you want to expand

or change peoples consciousness,

you must know in which direction.

That's why I'm prepared

to talk until daybreak.

- No, tell us now!

- Aha, in one sentence.

Now!

People don't understand you?

I always say that people

understand me very well.

- But they're afraid of it?

- No.

But... But then we need to...

It's not a bad thing

if people get aggressive.

Let them be aggressive.

At least that gets you talking to them.

You have to provoke it.

Provocation always causes something

to come alive.

Maybe they smash their china at home.

Or maybe they call me up on the phone.

It always happens

after I've been on TV, "Idiot!"

- They call you at home?

- Sure, whenever I've been on TV.

"A**hole!"

Yes... Just a second...

For many people, an means

the freedom of randomness,

"Ah, art. I can do whatever I want."

But what's the point of art

if nothing comes of it?

So whenever people

ask me if I'm an artist,

I say, "Oh, cut the crap."

I'm not here to decorate

these foul, moldering, stinking systems.

I'm not an artist at all.

Except if we say

that everyone is an artist.

I buy into that, but only then.

I never said everyone is a poet,

a painter, a sculptor.

I mean social an

when I say everyone is an artist.

I find what you're saying to be

terribly abstract and intellectual...

No.

I'm talking about

the emergence of a new an

where everyone not only can participate

but must participate.

He was a totally reasonable person,

not at all strange or freakish.

To me he was always totally reasonable.

The opposite of what everyone else said.

"Crazy," "strange," "peculiar."

He was the first sane person I'd ever met.

He was totally sane.

And right after our first one-on-one

conversation at documenta, I knew,

"You can trust him completely."

I thought that was great.

It had nothing to do with his aura.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes