“I am interested in transformation, change, revolution.” – Joseph Beuys: We are living in "shutdown" the world has changed forever, evolution ! Not what us humans expected. / by Mark Edwards


“Beuys’s figures do not appear in a stable manner in any kind of detailed, particular context. Characteristic of Beuys’ figures in his drawings is that man and animals are existentially free in the surrounding nothingness, out in the open, in the large incompleteness, as anonymous protagonists of universal mankind”. Artland by Sheila Wolfe. This article discusses Beuys's drawings and some of his thoughts in relation to these images. Engaging in Beuys practice it is difficult to pinpoint which comes first, as we are informed during his life he always was jotting down in sketchbooks and notepaper drawings on his thoughts. Researching Beuys leads me to believe he was an enigmatic character forever preaching his beliefs that in a social category “everybody is an artist” he randomly used the blackboard to write down ideas that latter become artworks. I find this an intriguing argument that Beuys could make marks scribbles that had some drawing like figures and numbers that became artwork to display in galleries and museums. What I do applaud him for is the thinking and performances of social sculpture. Today we are in lockdown, it is not possible to physically meet up with more than two people, no curatorial gallery or museum gatherings, we are left to the devices of modern technology, RMIT collaborate online, virtual gallery and live via the computer. So what does this say about Beuys's “social sculpture” the living archive? While the idea of art made from people participating in social interactions goes as far back as the Dadaist movement, performances live at the Cabaret Voltaire circa (1916) Beuys can be looked back and viewed as a man way ahead of his times. The social dynamics today here in Melbourne as students working live on line gels with this socialist participatory way of working. Conceptually I see a link to Beuys project at Documenta 6 in Kassel, 1977 (26 June-2 October) Honey pump We are not free, we have six weeks of not being able to go out of our own living accommodation spaces, the Government has banned us, break these laws and we will fine you heavily. We are being dictated to, I do agree with this lockdown, I am just feeling that like what Beuys was preaching in his socialist political manner, today more than ever the art community voice is being muted and subconsciously as we have our lessons online, those that do most of the talking, submit peer pressure to those that may not be as strong or feel intimated to vocally participate.