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Aus seinen selbst übermittelten Erlebnissen im Zweiten Weltkrieg, seinem Absturz als Stuka-Flieger auf der Krim, speisten sich nicht nur spätere Legenden, sondern auch die Wärme- und Kältesymbole in seinen Arbeiten: flüssiges Fett, Filz, Brot und Honig als Wärmepole und geistige Nahrung – und auf der anderen Seite die Sinnbilder der Kälte, des rationalen Denkens, des Materialismus und des Todes.
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For "scholarly reasons," it was only possible to write a doctoral dissertation on Beuys’ work at Frankfurt’s Johann Wolfgang Goethe University after his death in 1986. At that time, Beuys was considered to be the artistic genius par excellence. He had broadened the definition of art as no other artist had before him. With his use of materials such as animal fat and felt and his concept of the "social sculpture," he had become the undisputed pioneer of post-war art, challenging people’s cherished values. His own experiences in the Second World War, in particular his spectacular survival after having been shot down over the Crimea in his dive-bomber, not only became the stuff of later legends, but also created the symbols of warmth and cold that were to pervade his works: melting fat, felt, bread, and honey standing for warmth and spiritual sustenance, in opposition to cold rationality, materialism, and death.
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