p. 243; Also cited in: Louwrien Wijers (1996). Writing as Sculpture: 1978 - 1987. p. 38
“
I don't know what they call mysticism, it is in truth perhaps the interest of the spirit; that the work expresses the spirit, and not the formal aspect. While in the United States a lot of art production runs along the line of formalist art; what one could call the post-modernism, a kind of formalist intention like Don Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, and these.
— Joseph Beuys
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I don't know what they call mysticism, it is in truth perhaps the interest of the spirit; that the work expresses the spirit, and not the formal aspect. While in the United States a lot of art production runs along the line of formalist art; what one could call the post-modernism, a kind of formalist intention like Don Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, and these." in the context of "p. 243; Also cited in: Louwrien Wijers (1996). Writing as Sculpture: 1978 - 1987. p. 38" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Joseph Beuys" (Quotes, 1970s, Interview with Louwrien Wijers, 1979: Interview with Louwrien Wijers, 22nd November 1979 - in Beuys' studio in Düsseldorf, Germany; as quoted in: Joseph Beuys, Carin Kuoni. Joseph Beuys in America: Energy Plan for the Western Man. New York, 1993)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys (May 12, 1921 – January 23, 1986) was a German conceptual artist, who produced work in a number of forms including sculpture, performance art, video art and installations. He was inspired by the ideas of Rudolf Steiner and the French artist Yves Klein. Beuys was an important teacher of famous neo-expressionist German artists as Jörg Immendorff, Walter Dahn, Anselm Kiefer and Blinky Palermo. Beuys held a lot of lectures in the U.S. Beuys enlarged the area of art to the whole life of mankind; everybody is an artist. He introduced the notion of social sculpture.
About Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys (May 12, 1921 – January 23, 1986) was a German conceptual artist, who produced work in a number of forms including sculpture, performance art, video art and installations. He was inspired by the ideas of Rudolf Steiner and the French artist Yves Klein. Beuys was an important teacher of famous neo-expressionist German artists as Jörg Immendorff, Walter Dahn, Anselm Kiefer and Blinky Palermo. Beuys held a lot of lectures in the U.S. Beuys enlarged the area of art to the whole life of mankind; everybody is an artist. He introduced the notion of social sculpture.
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