Joseph Beuys and Rudolf Steiner

Joseph Beuys

Rudolf Steiner  Blackboard drawing

Artists who use blackboard drawing include Joseph Beuys, Tacita Dean and Rudolf Steiner (there must be many others). My experiment has led me to look at the ideas and work of Beuys with new understanding.  He was deeply influenced by the ideas of Steiner (1861-1925), for example,  and is known for his idea of "social sculpture".  The following quotation is from wikipedia:


"Beuys believed everybody was an artist, he once said “every sphere of human activity, even peeling a potato can be a work of art as long as it is a conscious act.” The idea being that every decision you make should be thought out and attempt to make or contribute to a work of art which in the end is society. Individuality and well educated decisions are promoted in the person while the government is made of those decisions put into referendums. This point of view invites followers to humble themselves by realizing that they are an important part of a whole not only an individual." 

I have a long way to go before I grasp more fully what Beuys, and for that matter Steiner were saying, but I have begun to understand it intuitively through my work on the litho stone, which is currently linking techniques of print making with my experience of and passion for textiles..