Consequently, what position does Beuys hold in art history?
I see Beuys as a consequence of art history. He has taken as his theme that from which individual artists have drawn over the millennia: creativity itself. In Beuys, art in a certain sense comes into its own, becomes aware of itself in the work of this artist. It becomes human. This has far-reaching consequences, because when life becomes art, when every action, every word, every deed can potentially become an artistic act, we can no longer talk ourselves out of it, but see ourselves challenged to do everything we do artistically, that is, more precisely, more concretely, more vividly, more consciously.

How did you first come into contact with it? When did it “grab” you?
I first heard about Beuys in my early childhood, when cleaning staff accidentally cleaned a work by Beuys – an old bathtub – to use it for rinsing glasses. This, of course, made big waves and led me to become interested in this person and his art. The golden “Peace Bunny” was on display in the State Gallery, and I was fascinated by the story of how it came to be, since it had been cast by Beuys by remelting a copy of Ivan the Terrible’s tsarist crown as part of his 7000 Oaks campaign.

Finally, back to the question on the topic of our issue: To what extent do you see Beuys as a networker?
Beuys is the prototype of a networker. He not only worked with a wide variety of people (from politics, banking, business, public administration, the churches and others) and in his call for an alternative of December 23, 19786 tried to address “all people of the European cultural and civilization circle,” but through his actions also established a comprehensive network with the animal and environmental worlds, philosophy and religion, science and, last but not least, with the art scene, which is still unparalleled in its diversity today.

What can we still learn from Beuys today?
Beuys was, after all, famously “in search of the stupidest” and asked himself, “Where would I have got to if I had been intelligent?” This is contrary to what we strive for today, where everything is supposed to be “smart” and as efficient as possible. But when we look more closely, it is often the detours, the connections that are useless at first glance, that give us new ideas and involve us in processes that make innovative action possible. Beuys teaches me – perhaps it is the same for others – how a magic can spread over life when we experience how, through our own artistic endeavors, everything mundane, merely aimed at purposes, at making money, at performance, can be transformed into something playful that brings joy, that brings us together, and that allows artistic things to emerge between us and the diversity of relationships between us and the world to become visible.