On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys
In November 1970, Joseph Beuys and Terry Fox performed Isolation Unit in Düsseldorf in the cellar of the Kunstakademie, an hour-long performance in front of an audience of about thirty people. As in many of Beuys’s performances, the relation with (live or dead) animals and the use of nat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Milano University Press
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Itinera |
| Online Access: | https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/itinera/article/view/18558 |
| _version_ | 1797705322282876928 |
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| author | Tancredi Gusman |
| author_facet | Tancredi Gusman |
| author_sort | Tancredi Gusman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
In November 1970, Joseph Beuys and Terry Fox performed Isolation Unit in Düsseldorf in the cellar of the Kunstakademie, an hour-long performance in front of an audience of about thirty people. As in many of Beuys’s performances, the relation with (live or dead) animals and the use of natural materials played a crucial role. This is evident by the title he later used for the work: Action the dead mouse. During this performance, Beuys wore, for the first time, the felt suit that would later become one of his most iconic art-objects. Felt, like fat, is one of those organic matters recurring in his actions and refers to the warmth of the body, the energy of life. Shortly after the performance, the Felt Suit was (re)produced as a multiple in an edition of 100 copies by the Galerie René Block in Berlin. This essay starts with Isolation Unit and analyzes strategies for dealing with the organic and inorganic transformations of the multiple that originated from it. In doing so, it investigates contemporary approaches to the preservation of ‘ephemeral’ works and performance
remains and discusses their consequences for the epistemology and ontology of the arts.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:35:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-63dd893b70ae4088a9f8b483497f00d3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2039-9251 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:35:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Milano University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Itinera |
| spelling | doaj.art-63dd893b70ae4088a9f8b483497f00d32023-09-03T06:31:41ZengMilano University PressItinera2039-92512022-08-012310.54103/2039-9251/18558On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph BeuysTancredi Gusman0Università di Roma 2 In November 1970, Joseph Beuys and Terry Fox performed Isolation Unit in Düsseldorf in the cellar of the Kunstakademie, an hour-long performance in front of an audience of about thirty people. As in many of Beuys’s performances, the relation with (live or dead) animals and the use of natural materials played a crucial role. This is evident by the title he later used for the work: Action the dead mouse. During this performance, Beuys wore, for the first time, the felt suit that would later become one of his most iconic art-objects. Felt, like fat, is one of those organic matters recurring in his actions and refers to the warmth of the body, the energy of life. Shortly after the performance, the Felt Suit was (re)produced as a multiple in an edition of 100 copies by the Galerie René Block in Berlin. This essay starts with Isolation Unit and analyzes strategies for dealing with the organic and inorganic transformations of the multiple that originated from it. In doing so, it investigates contemporary approaches to the preservation of ‘ephemeral’ works and performance remains and discusses their consequences for the epistemology and ontology of the arts. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/itinera/article/view/18558 |
| spellingShingle | Tancredi Gusman On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys Itinera |
| title | On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys |
| title_full | On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys |
| title_fullStr | On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys |
| title_full_unstemmed | On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys |
| title_short | On Felt, Mice and Moths Change and Permanence in a Work by Joseph Beuys |
| title_sort | on felt mice and moths change and permanence in a work by joseph beuys |
| url | https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/itinera/article/view/18558 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tancredigusman onfeltmiceandmothschangeandpermanenceinaworkbyjosephbeuys |