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The Man, The Artist, The Teacher: Approaching Joseph Beuys’ I Like America and America Likes Me
Gallo, Francesca
Gallo, Francesca
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Abstract
This thesis examines the action piece I Like America and America Likes Me, performed by Joseph Beuys in New York in 1974. Temporally based in a century of changes and fast developments in the artistic, political, social and economic fields, this m performance stands as one of the deepest representations of Beuys’ theory of art. For this event, the artist spent three days inside the Rene Block Gallery with the unique presence of a coyote. The actions and the movements ensued were aimed at developing a silent dialogue with the animal, which the artist achieved also through the use of an assorted group of objects. I Like America and America Likes Me has been analyzed and interpreted by a number of scholars and critics, such as Caroline Tisdall, Lucrezia De Domizio Durini, Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, David Levi Strauss and Martino Nicoletti. Some of these writers have supported Beuys’ theory and practice (Tisdall and De Domizio Durini), while others have criticized firmly the German artist’s production (Buchloh). However, no scholar ever managed to convey the strong spiritual and aesthetic essence of the performance, which has to be understood as part of Joseph Beuys’ project of Social Sculpture. Through an initial rational approach, this thesis will propose a new aesthetic approach to the action piece, which helps to perceive the performance as an empathic event aimed at stimulating a mental and spiritual change in the human beings. This new proposal will constitute also a chance to respond to the critiques moved mainly by Buchloh to Beuys’ persona and art. The evidence to support these arguments harbor in the words of the artist, as well as in the iconography of the symbols included in the performance, which will constitute the rational basis for 1^ proposing a new way of looking, thinking and interpreting a work of art.
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Thesis (B.A. in Art History)--John Cabot University, Spring 2015.
Date
2015
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Beuys, Joseph
Citation
Gallo, Francesca. "The Man, The Artist, The Teacher: Approaching Joseph Beuys’ I Like America and America Likes Me". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2015