Beuys’ Hat. Analysis of an autofictional artist-subject

The German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) is said to be an ‘authentic’ artist; he seems to be indispensable as the ‘subject of his own work’. The exegetic reception of Beuys mirrors this assumption, as well as critiques of his exhibitions. Such assumptions provide the foundation of the dissertation “Beuys’ hat. Analysis of an autofictional artist-subject”; and they shall be regarded as the expression of paradigms of authority and authorship. Based on the popularity of Beuys as a ‘person’ and the legacy and canonization of his biography, the dissertation will analyze how the artist-subject stages – and fictionalizes – himself. The analysis focuses on the artist’s self-representations as well as museum practices that aim to construct and constitute the artist’s identity. The figure Beuys shall be understood as a ‘work of art next to his works of art’ (‘Werk neben dem Werk’). The dissertation project is an interdisciplinary study at the interface of literary and art studies. Especially literary terms and models from theories of authorship, autobiography and autofiction shall be made useful. Ultimately, the project is a contribution to the discussion on the relationship between the artist and work of art.

Contact

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  University studies
  2016	PhD, Graduate School Practices of Literature, WWU Münster
  2011	M.A., Cultural poetics, WWU Münster
  2009	B.A., Art History und German Studies, WWU Münster
  Professional practice
  currently	Coordinator at Art Club Malmö, Sweden
  since 01/2013	Coordinating assistant, Ardey Verlag (publishing house), Münster
  09/2014-10/2015	Academic assistant, Graduate School Practices of Literature
  WS 2014/2015	Lectureship at Institute for German Studies, WWU Münster
  08-12/2014	Promotion of art, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster
  12/2012-08/2014	PR & Marketing, Brand Expression, Münster
  since 12/2011	Editor, kunst raum münster, patterson + schade. Agentur für KommunikationMünster
  SoSe 2013	Lectureship German Studies, WWU Münster
  WS 2013/14	Academic mentoring for a foreign fellow student, WWU Münster
  11/2012 - 01/2013	Promotion of art, Kunstmuseum Picasso, Münster
  01/2012 - 10/2012	Academic assistant, Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau
  09/2011-01/2012 sowie 09/2010-01/2011	Cicerone, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster
  Academic stays abroad
  09/2015	Academic stay at Guggenheim Museums Archive, New York, NY. Scholarship from SMARTnetwork/DAAD.
  Other
  since early 2014	Editorial Department, Textpraxis. Digital journal for philology, online magazine of Graduate School Practices of Literature, Münster
  Late 2012 - SoSe 2015	Organizing team Münster Lectures, lecture series of Graduate School Practices of Literature
  Internships
  04/2011 - 06/2011	Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
  11/2010 - 12/2010	Literaturkommission für Westfalen, Münster
  03/2010 - 04/2010	Regiehospitanz Städtische Bühnen, Münster
  02/2009-04/2009	European Medial Art Festival, Osnabrück

   

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  Talks and publications
  2019	Beuys’ Hut, Schlingensiefs Family. Zu performativer Kunst und Autofiktion, Ringvorlesung des Graduiertenkolleg 1767. Faktuales und Fiktionales Erzählen.
  2019	Within a labyrinth of gazes. Exhibiting Christoph Schlingensief, in Stedelijk Studies: Lose Yourself! On Labyrinthine Exhibitions as Curatorial Model, Issue #7, 2018, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
  2019	The Objectification of the artist’s subject. Christoph Schlingensief’s late stagings, in: IKON, #12.2019, Centre of Iconographic Studies of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka.
  2015	Der Autor – ein anderer. Inszenierung von Autorschaft und Autor bei Ulrich Holbein. Aufsatz in Holbein-Sammelband (to be published in 2015).
  SoSe 2015	Musealising Joseph Beuys: Objects, Events and Performativity. Vortrag auf der Konferenz "Transformations: Growth, Decay, Remains", Department of German, Scandinavian & Dutch, University of Minnesota. Stipendium des SMARTnetworks/DAADs.
  2015	Autor, Figur, Autor-Figuren: Erschriebene Identitäten bei Goetz, Lottmann und Herbst, Rezension zu: Innokentij Kreknin: Poetiken des Selbst. Identität, Autorschaft und Autofiktion am Beispiel von Rainald Goetz, Joachim Lottmann und Alban Nikolai Herbst. Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2014. Erschienen in: KULT_online Nr. 41.
  2015	Rezension zu: Esther Kraus: Faktualität und Fiktionalität in autobiographischen Texten des 20. Jahrhunderts. Marburg: Tectum 2013. Erschienen in: DIEGESIS 4, H. 1 (2015).
  09/2014	Digital vs. analog. Subjektkonstitution in Blog und Tagebuch von Christoph Schlingensief. Vortrag in der Sektion "Das digitalisierte Subjekt: Neue Medien als techniques de soi. Grenzbereiche zwischen Fiktion und Alltagsreferentialität", 9. Kongress des Franko-Romanisten-Verbandes, Münster (to be published in 2015).
  06/2014	Kunst ist Leben - das Leben als Kunstwerk. Auffassungen einer "ästhetischen Existenz" bei Brock, Beuys, Vostell. Vortrag auf dem Symposium Beuys Brock Vostell - Frühe Positionen der Performativität, ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (to be published in 2015).
  12/2013	„Angst davor, nicht im eigenen Bild sterben zu dürfen“ – Autonomie und Kontrollverlust in Christoph Schlingensiefs Inszenierungen des Sterbens. Vortrag auf der Tagung "Schlusspunkt. Poetiken des Endes", Universität Duisburg-Essen (to be published in 2015).
  2012	Das Plakat bei Joseph Beuys: Werbung und Kunst, in: Stiftung Museum Schloss Moyland (Hg.): Beuys is here. Plakate und Multiples aus dem Museum Schloss Moyland [Ausst.-Kat.], Bedburg Hau, 2012, S. 9-13.