Working ‘in the opposite direction’

Walters, V (2010) 'Working ‘in the opposite direction’.' Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 19 (2). pp. 22-43. ISSN 1755-2923

Abstract

This paper will argue that revisiting the ideas and practice of the twentieth-century German artist Joseph Beuys is germane to contemporary discussions of place and human ecology in anthropology. Through an exploration of work undertaken by the artist and a discussion of the influence of Goethe on his practice, it will explore the way in which Beuys' approach to art was informed by a set of methodologies which saw the inner life of the human being and the outer world with which she or he engages as profoundly linked in both physical and psychic terms. Beuys' work points, the author will suggest, to the potential for a myth of fieldwork and a communication of its results that places the anthropologist within a constantly changing world of matter that she or he shapes and transforms and is, in turn, transformed by.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	eco-anthropology, human ecology, Joseph Beuys, materiality, transformation
Divisions:	Professional Services
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.3167/ajec.2010.190203
Date Deposited:	30 Jan 2024 13:47
Last Modified:	30 Jan 2024 13:47
URI / Page ID:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/16068

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