I have just published two pamphlets about the 2017 Joseph Beuys in Connemara Residency, which neatly coincides with a new exhibition of his work in London (at Thaddeus Ropac gallery). My interest in Beuys is however more about the tangential possibilities which can be excavated from his work.
I am, therefore, not hugely excited about the physicality of the works on display at the exhibition Utopia at the Stag Monument. For me, Beuys himself would have been the attraction, the restless fedora-sporting enthusiast for an endless myriad of political and social causes. I admit to most enjoying his lesser-known 1982 pop song Sonne statt Reagan yet remain insufficient of an enthusiast to have learnt all the lyrics.
The idea of Beuys is what intrigues me; the polarising impact he had in West Germany in the 1970s, where for some he was little better than a mystical charlatan, while for others he was a genuine force for good after the horrors of Nazi Germany. There is something encyclopedic about his range of concerns and the artworks he based on these, and these for me provide a convenient series of cultural markers for my own Beuys-project.
The thought of creating a residency in a small Irish cottage based around Beuys began when I considered a particularly tatty rug worn as a cloak would make me appear like the artist. The effect was more of a tribute rather than impersonation, for I lacked the fisherman’s waistcoat and hat. From this brief performance has flowed a variety of artistic activity. Much of this plays around with the idea of ‘artist-in-residence’ which somewhat makes the figure of the artist especial and even sacred. This is in contrast to Beuys’ own statement that everybody is an artist, which is a flattening of the concept of genius. But I follow my own logic, and pronounce that if I am an artist, anywhere I stay becomes a residency, even if do not intend to make art.
