Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys: In Defense of Nature
2025 Los Angeles, CA / The Broad
The exhibit recently ended on March 23rd, 2025.
This blog is a reflection on my experience with the exhibit, where I had the chance to revisit his work.
AI: “Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) viewed art as a vehicle for revolutionary social transformation, focusing on what he called "social sculpture," engaging his audience and the environment in new ways. His "Rose für Direkte Demokratie" (Rose for Direct Democracy), a 1973 artwork, is a graduated glass cylinder, symbolizing the transition from rigid systems to an organic, democratic society through creative, peaceful evolution.”
The exhibit includes a video documentary about how we held discussion events at cafes, similar to poets. Here, he sat or stood across a table, talking politics in a peaceful demeanor. I referenced this symbolism in my poem, Spa Tour.
I first studied his work while interning at LACMA in 2009, where I designed a tour for the exhibit Cold War Cultures: Art of East and West Germany. A recurring theme in his work is the act of sweeping public streets, a concept that speaks to peaceful social change and, more importantly, encourages respect for our environment. His use of brooms becomes more than just a tool for cleaning; it’s a performance—a call for responsibility and care for the spaces we occupy.
LACMA exhibited another version of this work: a clear box filled with street trash swept up after a Labor Day parade in Berlin, 1972. I designed my tour around the theme that art is everywhere and not limited to traditional mediums or galleries. It’s in the streets, in our daily lives, and in what we might overlook.
Each object he uses in his work carries its own story. Even without context, he examines materials, their production, and their symbolism, speaking a novel language that encourages us to rethink how we perceive everyday objects.
The exhibit also featured a Japanese whisky commercial from 1984.
If I were visiting Japan and I hadn’t known about this and just stumbled across a commercial of Joseph Beuys statueing a glass of whisky, I would have lost my shit, this guy continues to surprise me.
He is the most thoughtful, compassionate, and ambitious high-brow troll.
Thank you, Joseph Beuys.
April 1st, 2025
