Secretary bag
Secretary bag is an art object by Joseph Beuys from 1976. It has been in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery , Edinburgh , Scotland since 2008 .
description
The object, which lies on a 408 by 248 mm carrier, consists of a brown shipping bag made of kraft paper and cardboard . Two sheets of white writing paper peek out of the unlocked opening . There are more sheets inside the envelope. The topmost sheet of paper peeking out bears the number 11 and is written with handwritten text in blue ink . The words "The Energy Plan of the Western Man" can be read as the heading of the text. The cardboard box on the back of the mailer bears Beuys' signature drawn in pencil under the unsealed opening of the envelope and a few centimeters below - also handwritten in pencil - the title Secretary's pocket . The (invisible) front of the cover bears the inscription Joseph Beuys 1976 for Heiner as a dated dedication .
History and meaning
The dedication refers to Heiner Bastian , who worked as the artist's private secretary in 1976 and was rewarded for his services by Beuys by donating artistic works. The title of the work “ Secretary's Bag” refers as a compound on the one hand to Bastian's official function, the secretariat, and on the other hand to the envelope, the mailer. Since the handover of the object served to pay the secretary, the object can also evoke the association of a wage packet. The phrase "The Energy Plan of the Western Man", which is headed on page 11 of the manuscript, refers to a speech that Beuys developed in 1974 for a ten-day lecture tour in the United States and during which he spoke in educational institutions in New York City , Chicago and Minneapolis especially wanted to convey his art theory of " social sculpture ". In the contemporary context of the oil price crisis, Beuys used the metaphor of an energy crisis in the western world in his lectures to convince his audience that everyone can free themselves by developing their own creative resources.
Beuys also used the title secretary's bag in 1981 when he made 500 multiples , each consisting of a stamped and labeled mailer and two facsimile prints on foil and cardboard.
literature
- “If no one answers, I won't draw”: A conversation between Joseph Beuys, Heiner Bastian, and Jeannot Simmen, Düsseldorf, August 8, 1979 . In: Heiner Bastian , Jeannot Simmen (Ed.): Joseph Beuys: Drawings - Tekeningen - Drawings . Exhibition catalog, Nationalgalerie Berlin, Berlin 1979, pp. 91–102.
- Anne Seymour: The Drawings of Joseph Beuys . In: Joseph Beuys Drawings . Exhibition catalog, City Art Galleries, Leeds 1983, pp. 7–26.
Web links
- Secretarial bag , website in the tate.org.uk portalwith picture
Individual evidence
- ^ Beuys between all fat stools . In: Der Spiegel , No. 6/1988, p. 202 ( PDF )
- ↑ Secretary's bag , website in the portal karlundfaber.de , accessed on August 12, 2018