Joseph Beuys

1970

Multiple, 2 x (64 x 31 x 18 cm).
Materials: a: zinc plate, sulphur, gauze, stamped; b: unprocessed Zinkkiste, stamped

Collection: Private Collection.

Two open zinc boxes make up this multiple. One of the boxes is coated in sulphur and a small piece of gauze is pressed in one of the corners. Open boxes are metaphoric stand-ins for the human head in the oeuvre of Beuys. By using materials such as zinc, sulphur and gauze, Beuys imparts both rational and spiritual qualities to the metal ‘heads’. Zinc is a highly conductive metal, allowing the flow of current between a battery and a connected device. Sulphur is highly flammable, acting as a transmitter of spiritual energy in the work of Beuys. The gauze filters the incoming spiritual energies from the material signals. The location of the gauze, in the corner of the box, is also significant: ‘The corner,’ as Beuys once explained, ‘symbolises the most mechanistic tendency of the human mind, the cornerstone of our present society, as manifested in our square rooms, square buildings and square cities…. Extending in meaning, it represents the mineralised co-ordinate system of our culture, science and living processes.’¹

¹ Beuys in Caroline Tisdall, Joseph Beuys, 72, 74. 

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Edition: 200. 200 planned, only 150 completed; a: signed and numbered; b: not signed, not numbered

Edition Tangete, Heidelberg