Joseph Beuys and Shamanism

[Marcel]

Just thought I'd let you guys know about a little exhibition that's coming to Sydney soon. It's the work of Joseph Beuys, especially his work dealing with shamanism, myth and folk medicine.

Details here.

Beuys is one of my favourites. He certainly fit the art world of the 20th century as well as all the big players, but at the same time, he was the most honest and direct and independent thinker of all of them (no mean feat). In an era where high art eschewed the spiritual, the traditional, the political, the ecologically-minded and other such phenomenological approaches to relating to our world, he was dealing with these most basic and universal human concerns with depth and beauty; a true European pagan shaman in the guise of celebrated art world personality.

A lot of people with little contact with post-war modernist art have a hard time finding an entry point into understanding his work (it certainly isn't all pretty pictures), but I recommend all of you psychonauts with a truly open mind take some time into reading about his life and art. There's a magical, spiritual, poetic "something" there, and it sits outside what can be really felt with mere language. Surely that's something to which trippers can relate.