"LA RIVOLUZIONE SIAMO NOI" Creatività, Educazione, Ecologia nell'opera Joseph Beuys

"We are the revolution" Creation, Education, Ecology in the work of Joseph Beuys Joseph Beuys (1921 ¿ 1986) was one of the most representative artists of conceptual art in the second half of the 20th century. His life and art are deeply interconnected and they follow original ways. In order to show all the problems regarding his artistic production, I have decided to follow a biographical approach, that is to say I have thoroughly studied his biography pointing out the main topics in his body of work, trying to underline the constant evolution in his life. I went into details about his theory of perception that he started to formulate when he was young and kept on developing during all his life. According to this theory he wanted to go back to the original knowledge where all the five senses (not only sight and hearing as by tradition) are re-established so as to reach a complete extension of the senses, a sort of ¿sensory ecology¿. I also describe his terrible experience during the II World War when he risked his life twice: the first time during a plane crash, the second one when he entered a period of serious depression in the 1950s from which he recovered brilliantly and started a sort of new life. I have identified three main topics in Beuys' work: some of his artworks which brought him closer to the Fluxus movement (this group of artists used to produce art characterized by social commitment, even if they were much less committed than Beuys); his formulation of the concept of creativity which, according to Beuys, is included in every man action; finally the individual creativity which gives freedom to every man and has to become freedom for all human beings. He brought these ideas into his teaching and political commitment and his ecological fights. Moreover I have dealt with his experience at the Free International University and the years spent in Italy. Then I have described some of his artworks pointing out their educational weight and ethical implications. Finally I have made some comparisons between Beuys' art and thinking and some of the topics within the educational context. From the very beginning dealing with his biography, I have tried to emphasize his humanism: in my opinion this aspect is fundamental if you want to talk about the educational topics in his art. Trying to understand Beuys means to penetrate the mystery of the human beings, that is to say of the man as part of nature and as part of mankind. The human beings are aware of their inner changes, they are actually responsible of them. They are at the same time works of art and creators of art, they act on the social environment through their work, which is also an artistic process. It comes out the idea of the human being as a continuous change, the so-called ¿Fluxus¿, a flux of creative energy in relation with the whole universe towards which he feels deep gratitude but also complete responsibility. Beuys' man feels the moral duty of becoming scientist of nature and at the same time of identifying himself as a fragment of the universe. During his development, Beuys' aesthetics proves to be an interesting mixture of ethics, politics and pedagogy first, and also strong environment interests afterwards. I have chosen Joseph Beuys for my dissertation because I was very interested in comparing some educational topics which my job is based on and this complicated and definitely provocative way of conceiving art. CARASSO LUCA MATRICOLA 312961 A.A. 2009/2010