Joseph Beuys at MOMA

[ZOOOOOOOOOA9]

Joseph is no Jimmy. Swaggart's telecasts were seen by more than 8 million people in the United States and by more than 500 million people worldwide (ref: Wikipedia). JB's fans including myself, were a tiny but committed group of devotes too the absurd, and if there is a connection to Jimmy it lays here. Perhaps a closer look at the two J's is an interesting idea - I'm up for postulations that only cranks and misfits throw around.

[Wacek4444]

And for the sake of this clip, I wonder why the fuck all these dumb/blind people waste their time in MOM sprinting past Beuys while they could watch american idol or jackass or take part in stupid hat competition...

They just look so misplaced, kinda like pigs in the temple.

[earinsound]

i like watching the people walk around like zombies unable to fix their sight on anything for very long. beuys would have something to say about that. museums are ridiculous, artificial environments for the ruling classes.

[ddtoots]

He was german right? did he do anything about the holocaust..or make any cmmentary about germany as related to taht..german culture or anything like that..jsut curious.

[DerMessermann]

No. But he was in the competition for the "Auschwitz-Denkmal". But his idea was rejected.

[ddtoots]

what was that competition about and do u know why he was rejected?

[DerMessermann]

his work was declined. It was an international competition in 1956.

[hapicheri]

hey no one pay attention to elitist Exthulla, who has apparently been on some kind of masturbatory anti-Beuys rampage for a few months! :D

[PortraitEstate]

By the way - Joseph's visual sensibility for design was impeccable and his drawings were beautiful. What he was spouting wasn't pseudo-anything - it was art. His very existence was art!

I realize you find this difficult to grapple with. Don't feel bad. The majority of the general public doesn't get it either. It's okay to be in the dark Exthulla.

[Exthulla]

Your second-last sentence gives you away. The desire to be "in the know" has led you into seeing non-existent qualities where in reality there are only scribbles and mumbo-jumbo. You are unfortunately a victim of Emperor's-New-Clothes Syndrome. Name one "creation" by Beuys that shows any real artistic skill.

[PortraitEstate]

You are right Exthulla. I want to be "in the know" and I feel embarrassed to be attracted by scribbles and mumbo jumbo. It's a real weakness. I wish you didn't see right through me with that razor sharp analytic mind of yours.

[catolupus]

Fuck sake Extulla it's only youtube. Watch the video and enjoy it. You don't have to get philosophical about it. I'm sure there's enough blogs on the internet for that.

[Exthulla]

Genuine debate is always healthy Catolupus. We're always told about how "challenging" stuff like Beuys is, but when it is challenged itself in return suddenly we find we're not really allowed to question it. The idea of multimillionaire Gallery owners peddling this tripe is ridiculous enough, but when fools like PortraitEstate above are declaring "his very existence was art", it's time to start giggling. It's fun to laugh at this level of silliness.

[Exthulla]

Your second-last sentence gives you away. The desire to be "in the know" has led you into seeing non-existent qualities where in reality there are only scribbles and mumbo-jumbo. You are unfortunately a victim of Emperor's-New-Clothes Syndrome. Name one "creation" by Beuys that shows any real artistic skill.

[Wacek4444]

"i like america, america likes me", and its just one of his many great works you didnt know about, o' nameless dumbo.

[Exthulla]

To the medieval credulous, any piece of garbage identified as a 'relic' was invested "magically" with 'holiness'. To the modern credulous, any piece of garbage identified as 'Art' is invested "magically" with 'greatness'. Wake up and start thinking for yourself instead of blindly following Gallery scam merchants.

There isn't an ounce of skill or talent in ANYTHING Beuys ever did. He was such an obvious fraud that it's hilarious anyone would be taken in at all.Stop being so gullible!

[ZOOOOOOOOOA9]

You have a spirited opinion: why stop being gullible? at times its a relaxed and sometimes blissful state. The man who daringly wear's his fedora at all times has something of the 'ole-time' religion about him - perhaps comforting.

[Exthulla]

He was indeed the Jimmy Swaggart of art. And about as credible.

[PortraitEstate]

Thanks for this enlightening revelation Exthulla! Your ability to see through all the codswallop reveals your higher intelligence.

I thought Beuys was actually a wonderfully colourful intelligent artist and a generous teacher.

[Exthulla]

Glad to be of assistance. Incidentally an 'artist' who cannot draw, paint or sculpt is, technically a 'non-artist'. And someone who "teaches" by spouting pseudo-science and pseudo-philosophy isn't really teaching. The technical term for this is bullshitting.

[PortraitEstate]

Your view of what it is to be an artist went out the door many years ago. Anyone can draw. Probably even you! Does that make you an artist? Perhaps. What makes a doodler or an engineer into an artist is their ability to demonstrate something completely new, somewhat unfathomable and even paradoxical.

[Exthulla]

The way you try to redefine the word "artist" to suit your case is hilarious.I suspect what you really mean by the word "artist" is "anyone who is in the pay of a contemporary gallery even though they have no skill whatsoever and are obviously just peddling hokum". That's not an "artist" - it's what real artists refer to as a Theory Muppet.

.

[PortraitEstate]

Are you a painter Exthulla? I'd like to see some of your work.

[Exthulla]

Beuys was one of the most successful charlatans of the Twentieth Century, fast-talking a gullible artworld into submission and proving that if you had enough brass neck you could throw together any garbage and convince those who wanted to be convinced that it was "important".

His theories and his "work" are utter (and obvious) codswallop.

[caskos]

Eurasia is brilliant. But it doesnt capture any of the viewers

[aloysiusgrant]

None of the viewers seemed very interested.