Joseph Beuys – Lecture, SKC Belgrade
/5
- Joseph Beuys – Lecture, SKC Belgrade
- 1974
- video, b&w, no sound
- 2min, 52sec
One of the participants at the 3rd annual edition of the SKC’s April Meetings in 1974 was Joseph Beuys, a well-known artist and charismatic social activist. His main contribution to this event was a lecture held in the main lobby. With large blackboards set up, Beuys spoke about topics including society, freedom, democracy, and socialism. On the board, he wrote down key notions and also drew related diagrams. I was sitting on the floor at the opposite side, near the theater entrance, and next to me were two philosophy students: Zoran Đinđić and Slobodan Žunjić, whom I’d met in the gallery office a couple of days before. When Beuys had finished his lecture, he asked if there were any questions—and I think it was Đinđić who raised his hand and briefly stated that although he’d found the lecture interesting, it hadn’t been very consistent from a sociological perspective. The reply to this came not from Beuys himself but from Jerko Denegri, who had an excellent observation: “Criticizing Beuys’ lecture on society from the standpoint of sociology isn’t much different from criticizing Picasso’s portraits from the standpoint of anatomy.”
Among the attendees was Lucio Amelio, a well-known art collector who was interested in acquiring the blackboards from Beuys’ lecture. He must have been disappointed to learn that those blackboards belonged to SKC’s inventory and couldn’t be sold. Moreover, the Museum of Contemporary Art was unable to take them since it did not collect foreign art. A few years ago, I saw those blackboards—by then in bad condition—“decorating” one of the walls in a stairwell at the SKC. At some point during the lecture, Dunja Blažević had asked me if I could try to catch some scenes with my movie camera, which I did. After being developed, however, this brief, black-and-white silent film never got projected. I received a digitized copy later on but was disappointed by its quality. I’d probably been using daylight film, whereas the SKC lobby was pretty dark. Nevertheless, these randomly selected frames are taken from what is perhaps the only existing film footage of that event at the SKC in 1974. G.D.
Among the attendees was Lucio Amelio, a well-known art collector who was interested in acquiring the blackboards from Beuys’ lecture. He must have been disappointed to learn that those blackboards belonged to SKC’s inventory and couldn’t be sold. Moreover, the Museum of Contemporary Art was unable to take them since it did not collect foreign art. A few years ago, I saw those blackboards—by then in bad condition—“decorating” one of the walls in a stairwell at the SKC. At some point during the lecture, Dunja Blažević had asked me if I could try to catch some scenes with my movie camera, which I did. After being developed, however, this brief, black-and-white silent film never got projected. I received a digitized copy later on but was disappointed by its quality. I’d probably been using daylight film, whereas the SKC lobby was pretty dark. Nevertheless, these randomly selected frames are taken from what is perhaps the only existing film footage of that event at the SKC in 1974. G.D.