Eurasienstab joseph beuys biography

Joseph Beuys – Aus Eurasienstab.
Film by Joseph Beuys and Henning Christiansen is titled Eurasienstab, Fluxorum organum opus 39 1968.
From the early 1960s Beuys dissolved the difference between his biography Eurasienstab.

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Eurasienstab über den Alpen

Joseph Beuys

1971

Miscellaneum
Materials: ink on paper

Collection: M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. M00307).

The term Eurasia refers to the super-continent, that includes the landmasses of Europe and Asia. Eurasia held an important place for Beuys as a complex philosophical and cultural concept, which he used to problematise the artificial separation between ‘East’ and ‘West’. Eurasia, in Beuys’ conception, was an open space without physical or ideological boundaries, and possessing a great plurality of culture. Sitting in contrast to the modernist construct of nations states, Eurasia is a space of free movement and the exchange of ideas since ancient times. Anyone who lived on the landmass would be a Eurasian, whether a person is a Fleming, Rheinlander, Mongol, Tartar, Desi, or from any other cultural group. The concept was also a way for him to look away from America as a dominant force of modernity and hegemony. The staff we see in the title of this postcard edition, seen here floating above Munich, refers to the one used

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Joseph Beuys in the Action 'Eurasia suite'

An inspiring teacher and one of the 20th century’s most influential artists, Joseph Beuys first came to prominence in the 1960s as a performance artist and major contributor to Fluxus, a group dedicated to organising anarchic events and happenings. While many of his early actions were witnessed by only very small audiences, they have become well known through the photographs of fellow artist Ute Klophaus. The action ‘Explaining pictures to a dead hare’, for instance, took place on the opening night of Beuys’ exhibition of drawings at Galerie Alfred Schmela in Düsseldorf. The invited public arrived at the gallery to find the doors locked. Through the glass front of the gallery they saw Beuys sitting in a chair with his face covered in honey and gold leaf, cradling a dead hare in his arms. Slowly he got up and wandered around the exhibition, as if explaining each work to the hare.

The photographs of this action, along with others such as ‘Mainstream’, have been extensively reproduced and have taken on a significance of their ow

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Beginning in the 1960s, Joseph Beuys developed new modes of thought that, in their complexity, continue to be relevant today. He achieved universal fame with his expanded definition of art and the concept of social sculpture. Art – according to Beuys' guiding principle – is meant to assert itself on the social, political, intellectual, and scientific level and thus become an integral part of our mindset and actions. On the centenary of the exceptional artist's birth, his work is more relevant than ever.

The presentation at the Belvedere 21 also revolves around the concepts of thinking, acting, and mediating: While the main work, Honey Pump at the Workplace, stands as a symbolic representation of Joseph Beuys' creed that societal transformation can be achieved through art, Stag Monuments seemingly marks the new beginning of a shattered society. In addition, the exhibition also embraces works and documentation of Beuys' work in Vienna. Beuys took part in exhibitions, actions, and lectures in the city – mainly the Galerie nächst St. Stephan. He developed for this gallery, among