“A total work of art is only possible in the context of the whole of society. Everyone will be a necessary co-creator of a social architecture, and, so long as anyone cannot participate, the ideal form of democracy has not been reached. Whether people are artists, assemblers of machines or nurses, it is a matter of participating in the whole.” LongArtMatterWholeFormArtistSocialDemocracyArt IsIdealsMachinesCreatorArchitectureWorks Of ArtNurseParticipatingDemocracies Have Author:Joseph Beuys
“After I am dead I would like people to say: 'Beuys understood the historical situation. He altered the course of events'. I hope in the right direction.” PeopleCoursesSituationEventsUnderstoodHistoricalAlteredRight Direction Author:Joseph Beuys
“I am interested in the creativity of the criminal attitude because I recognize in it the existence of a special condition of crazy creativity. A creativity without morals fired only by the energy of freedom and the rejection of all codes and laws. For freedom rejects the dictated roles of the law and of the imposed order and for this reason is isolated.” ReasonLawOrderEnergyExistenceAttitudeMoralRolesCreativityCrazySpecialConditionsCriminalsCodeRejectionRejectsIsolated Author:Joseph Beuys
“I work in the field of art, and you know how during a period of Marxist ideology, fewer people are inclined to believe in the power of the culture as a whole: they believe in the revolutionary potential of economics, class struggle theory.. ..Therefore it's time to show that art means the power of creativity, and it's time to define art in a larger way, to include science and religion too..(1973” PeopleKnowsWayBelieveMeanArtWholeShowsCultureClassCreativityKnow HowStruggleFieldsTheoryPeriodsEconomicsIdeologyRevolutionaryFewerScience And ReligionFine ArtsMarxistClass Struggle Author:Joseph Beuys
“I describe it ( the new aesthetics) 'radically': I say aesthetics = human being. That is a radical formula. I set the idea of aesthetics directly in the context of human existence, and then I have the whole problem in the hand, them I have not a special problem, I have a "holography" (reacting on a former suggestion of the public as a slight joke, fh) I don't know exactly what a holography is.. (1973” KnowsHumansIdeasWholeProblemHandsHuman BeingsExistenceSpecialJokesFormerRadicalFormulasSuggestionsAestheticsHuman ExistenceReacting Author:Joseph Beuys
“Back in the early days like for the Temptations, Supremes and Four Tops, artist development was alive in record companies. Every artist had a moment to develop the record visually. When the web took over and camera phones, it stripped the artists of the power to figure it out. So there's a need to bridge that gap and that's my job.” NeedsMomentsJobsArtistCompanyRecordsFourAliveFiguresDevelopmentCamerasPhonesSupremeTemptationBridgesGapsRecord Companies Author:Laurieann Gibson
“I think art is the only political power, the only revolutionary power, the only evolutionary power, the only power to free humankind form all repression. I say not that art has already realized this, on the contrary, and because it has not, it has to be developed as a weapon, at first there are radical levels, then you can speak about special details.” ThinkingFirstsArtFormPoliticalSpeakLevelsSpecialWeaponsArt IsDetailsContraryRadicalRevolutionaryHumankindRepressionPolitical Power Author:Joseph Beuys
“The ego must be developed, not for its own sake, but because it is needed by society. If you are only interested in self-realization then you cannot make a good painting. To do this you have to have thought about forming, and about how ideas of forming stem from history.” IfsIdeasSelfPaintingNeededEgoSakeSelf RealizationRealizationStem Author:Joseph Beuys
“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 for this planet.” ThinkingKindFormGrowingTreePlanetsElementsConceptsSymbolsSculptureOaksRegenerationConcept Of TimeGrowing Tree Author:Joseph Beuys