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Giorgio Conti |
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JOSEPH BEUYS + ITALY /
THE DEFENSE OF NATURE |
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An introduction
2004. Twenty
years have passed since the Defense of Nature operation
promoted by Joseph Beuys in Abruzzo, an italian region.
Even though this
philosophical-artistic-socio-cultural-scientific action was
conceived in Italy, there have been few initiatives to
remember the event. And yet, that title/programme has become
an all-too general slogan, it is no longer the prerogative
of exclusively environmental associations.
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Kassel, Contemporary urban landscape,
produced by the 7000 Oaks Action
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Since the time of beauty has passed…
1786. Wolfgang von Goethe
crosses the Brenner Pass (Italo-Austrian border) and begins
his Grand Tour of Italy. A journey in search of
antihistoricism and pessimism, in that he considers the
canons of classical aesthetics “immutable”:
“Since the time of beauty has
passed and only necessity and hard material needs fill our
days”.
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The
Defense of Nature, Sheet of Postage Stamps of the Republic
of San Marino, 2004 |
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From the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic
From La rivoluzione siamo Noi (We are the revolution) to the
L’Utopia concreta (Possible Utopia)
The
anthropologic pessimism, which fluttered in the thoughts of
and throughout the initial works in Naples of Beuys, is
radically transformed in the experiences and work completed
in that Italian Land, bathed by the Adriatic sea.
From Naples, the German artist heads for Foggia. At Vallo Malbasso,
in a mountainous area, he finds signs of German aerial
machine-gunfire.
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CapriBatterie |
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Photographing Beuys, with Beuys
Beuys has not
left ponderous written works behind. His is a type of
communication which comes across through performances, works,
deeds, but – especially – through public discussion.
In keeping with the methods proposed by Steiner, he privileges the
term ‘dialogue’, “according to me it is the word that
produces all images. It is the key symbol for every process
of modelling and organising. When I use language, I try to
induce the impulses of this power…the power of evolution…”
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Genius or Charlatan? After a long yawn came a great
scream
1979, November. Inauguration of the
grand exhibition dedicated to Joseph Beuys at the New York
Guggenheim Museum. The first, from the start of the postwar
years, dedicated to a German artist. Perhaps the only German
artist who, during that time, was considered to be of
international repute within the USA.
On that occasion, the magazine Der Spiegel, which enjoys a
wide circulation, – an exceptional occurance for a living
artist – dedicates its cover to this event, but however
leading with the question: “Beuys, charlatan or genius?”. At
the end of the article the doubt is no clearer in the mind.
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Other images |
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