Fighting dementia with play

ETH ZURICH

Research News

 

A dementia diagnosis turns the world upside down, not only for the person affected but also for their relatives, as brain function gradually declines. Those affected lose their ability to plan, remember things or behave appropriately. At the same time, their motor skills also deteriorate. Ultimately, dementia patients are no longer able to handle daily life alone and need comprehensive care. In Switzerland alone, more than 150,000 people share this fate, and each year a further 30,000 new cases are diagnosed.

To date, all attempts to find a drug to cure this disease have failed. Dementia, including Alzheimer's - the most common of several forms of dementia - remains incurable. However, a clinical study carried out in Belgium with the involvement of ETH researcher Eling de Bruin has now shown for the first time that cognitive motor training improves both the cognitive and physical skills of significantly impaired dementia patients. A fitness game, known as "Exergame", developed by the ETH spin-off Dividat was used in the study.

Better cognitive ability thanks to training

In 2015, a team of scientists led by ETH researcher Patrick Eggenberger showed that older people who train both body and mind simultaneously demonstrate better cognitive performance and can thereby also prevent cognitive impairment (as reported by ETH News). However, this study was carried out on healthy subjects only.

"It has been suspected for some time that physical and cognitive training also have a positive effect on dementia," explains de Bruin, who worked with Eggenberger at the Institute of Human Movement Sciences and Sport at ETH Zurich. "However, in the past it has been difficult to motivate dementia patients to undertake physical activity over extended periods."

ETH spin-off combines exercise and fun

With a view to changing this, Eva van het Reve, a former ETH doctoral student, founded the ETH spin-off Dividat in 2013 together with her PhD supervisor Eling de Bruin and another doctoral student. "We wanted to devise a customised training programme that would improve the lives of older people," says van het Reve. Fun exercises were developed in order to encourage people who were already experiencing physical and cognitive impairments to participate in training, and the Senso training platform was born.

The platform consists of a screen with the game software and a floor panel with four fields that measure steps, weight displacement and balance. The users attempt to complete a sequence of movements with their feet as indicated on the screen, enabling them to train both physical movement and cognitive function simultaneously. The fact that the fitness game is also fun makes it easier to motivate the subjects to practice regularly.

Eight weeks' training for dementia patients

An international team led by Nathalie Swinnen, a doctoral student at KU Leuven, and co-supervised by ETH researcher de Bruin, recruited 45 subjects for the study. The subjects were residents of two Belgian care homes, aged 85 years on average at the time of the study and all with severe dementia symptoms.

"The participants were divided into two groups on a random basis," explains de Bruin. "The first group trained for 15 minutes with the Dividat Senso three times a week for eight weeks, while the second group listened to and watched music videos of their choice." Following the eight-week training programme, the physical, cognitive and mental capacity of all subjects was measured in comparison with the start of the study.

Regular play has an effect

The results offer hope to dementia patients and their relatives: training with this machine indeed enhanced cognitive skills, such as attention, concentration, memory and orientation. "For the first time, there's hope that through targeted play we will be able not only to delay but also weaken the symptoms of dementia," emphasises de Bruin.

It is particularly striking that the control group deteriorated further over the eight-week period, while significant improvements were recorded in the training group. "These highly encouraging results are in line with the expectation that dementia patients are more likely to deteriorate without training," adds de Bruin.

But playful training not only has a positive impact on cognitive ability - researchers were also able to measure positive effects on physical capability, such as reaction time. After just eight weeks, the subjects in the training group reacted significantly more quickly, while the control group deteriorated. This is encouraging in that the speed with which older people respond to impulses is critical in determining whether they can to avoid a fall.

A better understanding of brain processes

The research group led by de Bruin is currently working on replicating the results of this pilot study with people with mild cognitive impairment - a precursor of dementia. The aim is to use MRI scans to investigate more closely the neural processes in the brain responsible for the cognitive and physical improvement.

###

Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture

By Johan Huizinga     

SEE HIS THEORY OF THE MAGIC CIRCLE

The magic circle and the puzzle piece (jesperjuul.net)

EJ1211610.pdf (ed.gov) 

huizinga.pdf (stanford.edu)

Game Studies - The Playful and the Serious: An approximation to Huizinga\'s <em>Homo Ludens</em>

US community raises US$30,000 for Korean-American couple after man destroys their convenience store

Surveillance footage shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and swinging a street sign post into the glass on the refrigerators

Mark Sung, the son of the store owners, said his family hears insults every day that include statements such as, ‘Go back to your country’

Associated Press
Published:  4 Apr, 2021

A screengrab from a video shows a man with a pole trashing a convenience store in Charlotte. Photo: Mark Sung/Grace Lee Sung via AP

A convenience store in North Carolina, owned by a Korean-American couple, was trashed by a man who wielded a metal post and yelled racial slurs, according to US police and a son of the owners.

Surveillance footage shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and swinging a street sign post into the glass of the refrigerators. A man who appears to a friend of the attacker cheers him on.

The attack, which occurred at a store called Plaza Sundries in downtown Charlotte on Tuesday, falls in the wake of an attack on an Asian-American woman in
New York City and the fatal shooting of eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses. Six of those victims were women of Asian descent.

New York man who kicked Asian-American woman killed his mother in 2002: police
7 Apr 2021


Despite the increase in attention on such attacks, the violence and racially charged language was nothing new, said Mark Sung and his wife and his wife Grace Lee Sung.

“When my husband got the call [about the attack], it was like a routine,” Lee Sung said. “He was like, ‘Okay, check the mess. See the surveillance. File the (police) report’.”

The pandemic has fuelled the tension, the couple said, with some people blaming the
coronavirus on the store’s owners. Sung’s parents have lived in the US for decades since moving from South Korea

“It’s like, ‘Hey, you’re different’,” Lee Sung said, offering a sanitised summary of the insults. “‘You obviously can’t be from around here. Go back to your country’.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina. Photo: CMPD

But the owners have experienced a different sentiment in the days since the attack: A woman arrived at the store and gave the owners soup.

A pizza delivery man showed up with five pies. A local doctor dropped off a cheque. More than US$30,000 has been raised through GoFundMe to cover the store’s damage.

“My in-laws are more shocked that people actually care than they were about the (attack),” Lee Sung said. “And it took them a while to process why they were getting so much attention.”

‘The virus has no nationality’: Asians in France protest against hate crime

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that was responsible for security at the transit centre arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, The Charlotte Observer reported.

He was arrested for robbery with a dangerous weapon, communicating threats, disorderly conduct, injury to personal property and resisting a public officer, according to public records. It was unclear if he had hired a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

Hate crimes nationally against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased 150 per cent during the pandemic, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

For Chinese-New Zealanders, rise in anti-Asian hate a reminder of painful past
5 Apr 2021


The outpouring of support for the store’s owners is making them “feel heard”, Lee Sung said of her in-laws.

“My mother in law can’t stop crying every time someone says, ‘I’m so sorry for what you’re going through’,” she said. “It’s just a reminder that – wow, things are not supposed to be this way.”

But the family is being cautious moving forward.

“She’s also scared because she is not used to all this attention,” Sung said of his mother. “So, she is also kind of nervous ... We’re just trying to be careful.”

Monuments that matter

Paper urges archaeologists and historians to work closely with people who are grappling with racism in public monuments

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

Research News

 

When most Americans imagine an archaeologist, they picture someone who looks like Indiana Jones. Or, perhaps, Lara Croft, from the Tomb Raider game. White, usually male but occasionally female, digging up the spoils of a vanished culture in colonized lands.

Depictions of archaeologists in popular culture mirror reality. Many scholars have noted the experts institutions recognize as authorities to discuss or represent the past are overwhelmingly white and mostly male. Archaeology has also been a tool colonizing countries use to consolidate and justify their domination. As a new open-access paper in American Antiquity points out, the first doctoral degree in archaeology was not granted to a Black woman until 1980.

First author Ayana Omilade Flewellen, an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Riverside and co-founder of the Society of Black Archaeologists, is working to change this by investigating antiblackness within the discipline, increasing the visibility of Black archaeologists and changing how archaeologists are portrayed in the media, and developing strategies to get more Black students to study archaeology.

"Public-facing avenues for history-making have historically excluded Black and Brown people," Flewellen said. "It has been white, extracting value from and not in dialogue with surrounding communities. How can we be part of history making? How can we get more excluded communities engaged in this work?"

The paper urges archaeologists and history professionals to work closely with people who are grappling with racism in public monuments and institutional names in the wake of last year's uprising following the killing of George Floyd. The authors argue that by working with "broad publics who are actively dictating what should be preserved and what should not the field can begin to redress the harm it has perpetuated."

"The past is messy," Flewellen said. "And archaeologists, we're in the dirt."

The authors assert that professionals of color who deal with history, whether as archaeologists, historians, museum curators, or other heritage experts, are often accused of bias in topics related to slavery, racism, or genocide. Their scholarly or public-facing work is often said to lack objectivity or express excessive emotion. The work of white scholars, writing on the same topics, is considered objective and taken more seriously.

"People question the objectivity of Black scholars but everyone, including white scholars, always has our own biases," Flewellen said. "But embracing these biases by working closely with communities, including Indigenous and Asian, usually excluded from history making allows us to have a more human image of the past."

For example, the authors suggest monuments damaged by protestors could be preserved and displayed alongside exhibits contextualizing the damage as part of a broader history that includes the oppression and struggle for equality of Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples in America. Defacing or destroying monuments could be seen not as an attempt to erase history but rather, as part of an active process of making history.

Recognizing acts of Black resistance against such monuments and other markers of white supremacy makes for a more objective, inclusive, and human telling of history, the authors argue. It also shifts attention from a preoccupation with preservation toward critical examination of the histories scholars choose to see, excavate, and steward.

The paper also addresses the challenges of bringing more Black college students into archaeology, which, in America, is usually housed in anthropology departments.

"Many Black students don't even have access," Flewellen said. "Historically Black colleges and universities don't usually have anthropology majors, and there are financial barriers as well. Field schools, necessary to complete training, are expensive, and because there are so few Black archaeologists, it's also hard for Black students to find mentors."

The authors argue Black archaeology, a specialization shaped by Black Feminist theory focusing on Africa and the African Disapora, can help bring more Black people, especially women, into archaeology and work against racism in the discipline.

"An antiracist archaeology is committed to forging sustainable and nurturing connections among archaeologists of all backgrounds, as well as with communities impacted by archaeological work, community organizers and activists, and those working with smaller historical societies that are also fighting to preserve local histories," the authors write.

The paper emerged from a forum last summer and calls on universities to:

• Hire and advance more minority faculty and staff through tenure and promotion and into senior-level roles, respectively.
• Make the process of obtaining tenure and merit reviews more transparent.
• Admit more minority students and offer more scholarships to help them achieve a degree.
• Train faculty and graduate students to integrate antiracist pedagogy in their classes.
• Rethink curricula and syllabi to incorporate a greater diversity of voices and perspectives.
• Reduce and respond to incidents of macro and microaggressions on campus, such as overtly racist abuse and small everyday insults that make for a hostile environment for students of color.
• Hire counseling center staff members who are competent to address the psychological stress of minority students.

###

Flewellen was joined in the research by Justin P. Dunnavant at Vanderbilt University; Alicia Odewale at the University of Tulsa; Alexandra Jones with Archaeology in the Community; Tsione Wolde-Michael at the Smithsonian Institution; Zoë Crossland at Columbia University; and Maria Franklin at the University of Texas at Austin. The paper, "The future of archaeology is antiracist: archaeology in the time of black lives matter," is available here.

Thousands rally against UK plans to limit protests

A new bill would give UK police more power to disperse demonstrations. The country is now seeing a wave of the so-called kill the bill marches.


Protesters claim the new bill would give police too much power

London police on Saturday detained several protesters at a rally against proposed legislation that would put new restrictions on public protests.

Officials said a "small minority" of the marchers had blocked the road at the city's Parliament Square.

"They are not social distancing and are putting people in danger of spreading the Covid virus," the police said on Twitter.

"The majority have left and we urge those remaining to listen to officers and leave the area now."

What are the protests about?

The London rally was one of dozens of such events across England and Wales on Saturday.

The marchers decried a UK government initiative to give police more power to curb protests. Under the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the authorities could impose time and noise limits on demonstrators or shut down "highly disruptive" protests.

Critics say the bill uses vague wording in order to give police nearly unchecked power. The initiative would also impose stricter penalties for defacing statues.

Police said a small group of protesters refused to leave the area

Movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter oppose the bill. The opposition Labour Party pledged to vote against it.

Watch video02:41 Climate activism in the age of the coronavirus pandemic

What did Jeremy Corbyn say?

On Saturday, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pointed to the central role of protests in securing freedoms.

"Democracy and democratic rights were never handed down from above," he told the crowd. In a Twitter post, he said he would "always defend the right to demonstrate against injustice."

Last week, protests against the initiative turned violent in Bristol, with protesters pelting the police with missiles and setting squad cars on fire.

Some police officers also decried the "kill the bill" tag as "the bill" is a British slang term for the police.

dj/mm (Reuters,AP)

Africa digs for coal to meet energy demands amid climate concerns

Africa's energy needs are growing. This has led some governments to turn to coal-powered plants. Critics say that's not a smart move in times of climate change and point to the continent's renewable energy resources.


More African countries are embracing coal as a source of energy

In South Africa, power outages are not the exception but the rule. In the past, those power cuts often occurred in the cold winter, but today the lights also suddenly go out in the summer. The country's power grid and power plants are outdated, and energy demand has increased.

Like South Africa — where around 90% of energy comes from coal — other African countries have embarked on mining this raw material. Botswana, Tanzania, and Mozambique are among the leading countries.
Energy poverty 'key concern'

"Energy poverty is a key concern when it comes to many developing countries," says NJ Ayuk, executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber — an organization that brings together mostly private companies in the energy sector.

According to Ayuk, decisions to reduce the supply deficit entail significant investments in the coal sector. "Coal — in some countries that have it — is in abundance, efficient, and convenient," Ayuk told DW, adding that the logistics are already in place compared to most countries that lack infrastructure for renewables.

Africa's power demand is bigger than the supply

Help and support with coal energy in Africa come from China, Russia, and France. "These countries often supply the finance and technology, and it makes sense for them to tap into resources that already exist and build the economy," Ayuk said.

"In comparison, G8 or G20 countries provide contracts and lessons. Many African countries feel that these developed nations are not really talking to them," he added.

For Ayuk, there is an alternative to coal. "Gas is cleaner than coal and could be used for power plants as we prepare to use renewable energy." Africa boasts of substantial gas reserves. For example, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal have recently discovered gas deposits.


Some African countries like Mozambique have coal deposits which they want to exploit
Impact of coal energy

What impact on the climate would additional coal-fired power plants have in Africa? According to Stephen Karekezi, chairman of the non-governmental organization Africa Energy Policy Research in Kenya, they wouldn't play a big role.

Many plans for new coal-fired power plants have not even been implemented yet, Karekezi told DW. "Even if they were realized, the impact on global climate change will not be noticeable," he added.

Africa's one billion people contribute only between 1 and 1.5% of global greenhouse emissions, Karekezi said.

About 34 coal-fired power plants currently produce roughly 53 gigawatts, supplying one-third of the continent's electricity needs. 19 of these power plants are located in South Africa.

VIDEO Using solar power for Kenyan flowers

According to the Global Coal Plant Tracker website, Africa plans to establish 25 new coal power plants. The organization Energy for Growth Hub, which has examined the projects in more detail, found that only one small plant in Niger with a capacity of around 100 megawatts is to be completed soon. Nine other projects could come online in the future, but construction has not yet begun.
Low green energy costs

The remaining 14 plants have either already been canceled or are unlikely to be completed. Among them is the planned coal-fired power plant near the Kenyan coastal town of Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Chinese-backed project has had its license revoked after environmentalists sued.


After legal challenges and protests, Kenya stopped the construction of a power plant in Lamu

For the environmental group Greenpeace, there is no reason why African countries should invest in coal-fired power plants. "The impact is immense. We feel it in South Africa. Burning coal produces toxic substances like carbon dioxide, and acid rain changes our groundwater — all dangers for the environment and health," Nhlanhla Sibisi, a climate and energy expert, told DW.

He said the continent has diverse potential for renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal. "The cost of solar can no longer count as a factor because it has dropped a lot."

For example, Kenya gets 25% of its electricity needs from renewable sources, and African countries can increase this approach. "Governments need to make a shift towards renewables through better implementation of relevant policies and legislation," Sibisi said, adding that this is the only way to prevent a climate crisis.

 THAT SINKING FEELING

A PESSIMISTIC Opinion: Naive optimism threatens Myanmar protest movement

• MYANMAR PROTESTS: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Myanmar: Who is actor Paing Takhon, arrested by the military?
  • Myanmar: Protests erupt in London after ambassador locked out of embassy
  • Myanmar anti-coup protesters stage Easter egg demo
  • Myanmar: Germany's Heiko Maas cautions about threat of civil war
  • Opinion: Naive optimism threatens Myanmar protest movement
  • Myanmar protesters hold 'flower protests' to honor dead
  • Why is Japan not taking a firm stand against Myanmar junta?
  • Myanmar: US calls on China to hold junta accountable
  • Myanmar: Germany urges citizens to leave as fears grow over instability
  • Myanmar protests: Death toll passes 500
  • Myanmar coup: ASEAN split over the way forward
  • Myanmar: Thousands take to streets as others flee
  • Myanmar: US President Biden calls bloodshed "absolutely outrageous"
  • Myanmar: Over 100 killed in deadliest day since military coup
  • India pushes ahead with Rohingya deportation amid Myanmar crackdown
  • Thousands flee military to Thailand-Myanmar border region
  • Myanmar releases hundreds of post-coup prisoners
  • Myanmar junta keeps internet curbs in place, blames media
  • Myanmar coup: Mass protests fail to attract global solidarity
  • EU to impose sanctions in response to Myanmar coup
  • From a trickle to a torrent: Myanmar struggles with an information onrush
  • Myanmar doctors and nurses stage dawn rally against coup
  • Myanmar: Security forces kill 8 protesters — local reports
  • Myanmar: 56 dead over weekend, 138 since coup, says UN
  • Myanmar: Junta imposes martial law in two Yangon districts
  • Myanmar: More protesters killed in weekend violence
  • Myanmar protests: UK tells citizens to flee
  • Myanmar: Court extends AP journalist's detention, agency says
  • Myanmar: Several protesters reported killed
  • Myanmar coup: Military cracks down on free speech, press freedom
  • Opinion: Myanmar coup conflict will escalate without talks
  • Myanmar police target striking railroad workers in raids
  • Myanmar: 2 killed after police crack down on protests
  • Myanmar: Thousands rally after overnight raids
  • US slaps export sanctions on Myanmar after protest deaths
  • Myanmar protesters persist following deadliest day
  • Myanmar: Reporter placed in chokehold as 6 journalists charged
  • Myanmar protesters determined to defy military with grassroots protest
  • Myanmar: Demonstrators shot dead in anti-coup protests
  • Myanmar: Protesters hit with stun grenades ahead of ASEAN talks

The violence in Myanmar shows that the conflict between pro-democracy protesters and the military has reached an impasse. Protesters need to work on a new strategy, says DW's Rodion Ebbighausen.

  

Anti-coup protesters are optimistic they can defeat the military

Two narratives currently dominate social media in Myanmar: the sheer brutality and reprehensibility on part of the generals, and the protesters' willingness to struggle for the restoration of democracy. The link between these narratives is the idea that good will eventually triumph over evil.

Nobody doubts the courage and good intentions of the demonstrators, but the protest movement will not succeed if it continues to function on naive optimism.

No external support

The protesters must realize that they will not receive any outside support against the military. The UN, the US and Europe will condemn the violence in Myanmar and impose some targeted sanctions on the military, but they will not directly intervene in the conflict. Even the call by many former heads of states and governments will not change that. China and Russia will block every move in the UN Security Council that could allow the West to increase its clout in Myanmar. This means there are no levers at the international level to increase pressure on the generals.

DW's Rodion Ebbighausen

Even the silent diplomacy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will have little impact as the grouping is not united on the Myanmar issue. Bloc members Thailand, Laos and Vietnam even participated in the Armed Forces Day celebrations in Myanmar's capital over the weekend, which coincided with security forces killing more than 100 protesters.

Dream of a federal army

Some supporters of the protest movement and the opposition parliament hope there could be a federal army in the country. After decades of fighting against the central government, various armed ethnic groups are expected to join hands with the protest movement and fight against the military. A similar attempt was made in the early 1990s, but it failed.

Armed groups in Myanmar have different interests. At the same time, China has decisive influence on rebel armies such as the United Wa State Army.

It is also a misconception that a federal army would pose a serious challenge to Myanmar generals. Even if all rebel armies work together with an inexperienced protest movement, they cannot compete with the battle-tested and well-equipped "Tatmadaw" (the Myanmar army).

Although what's happening in Myanmar looks like a civil war, the military has not yet used heavy weaponry against the population. Tanks or helicopters are not yet firing at protesters in Yangon and Mandalay.

The 10-year-long Syrian war has shown how frightening civil wars can be. The dream of a federal army could easily turn into an endless nightmare.

Direct confrontation means defeat

The protesters cannot win through a direct confrontation with the military. There is a lack of international support, money, experience and unity between ethnic groups and the protest movement.

Instead of risking lives in hopeless street battles, pro-democracy supporters need to debate what small steps they can take in the long run. Instead of hoping for a quick victory, they need to work on a long-term strategy.

DW

Joseph Beuys centenary exhibition explores the SOCIAL function of art

Is art purely decorative or should it actively question and rebel against social norms? 

An event commemorating German artist Joseph Beuys ponders these questions.

Joseph Beuys was born on May 12, 1921

The felt hat and fishing vest were his trademarks; felt and grease, his favorite materials. He wanted to abolish capitalism and heal the world with art: This is how Joseph Beuys became Germany's best-known and most influential artist of the 20th century.

Beuys caused a stir in the art world for much of the past century, where to this day, he has his ardent admirers as well as those who think rather little of him. 

Twelve museums along the Rhineland, all the way from the Bundeskunsthalle museum in Bonn to the Kulturhaus gallery in Kleve, which is where the sculptor, philosopher, art teacher and installation artist was born on May 12, 1921, are participating in this year's anniversary program, marking the 100th birthday of one of the biggest names in art to ever have come out of Germany.

Oak trees, coyotes and action art

One museum has already launched its anniversary program, titled after Beuys' famous guiding principle, "Everyone is an artist." The K20 museum, which is part of the Kunstsammlung NRW museums in Düsseldorf, has started showing 12 selected artworks and so-called "happenings" — performances by Beuys that were captured on film by his contemporaries roughly half a century ago.

Planting trees as an art performance: In 1982, Joseph Beuys combined his creativity with his environmental concerns

These images can be seen flickering across screens and canvases at the K20 as of March 27, 2021, and are accompanied by a myriad of pictures, words, sculptures and the bright lights of projectors filling the space and structured by a framework of steel rods.

The exhibition includes the 1974 installation "I like America and America likes Me" — a controversial work of action art in which Beuys was locked up in a New York gallery for two days alongside a live coyote. This performance not only earned him the reputation of being somewhat of a shaman but also caused a steep hike in the prices his works would fetch in the global art market at the time.

There are also photographs documenting Beuys' planting of "7000 Oaks" at the 1982 documenta7 exhibition in Kassel, which the artist used to propagate his need for "Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung," a play of words in German amounting to "urban forestation instead of urban administration."

Framing Beuys in today's context

But what message does Beuys have today that would resonate with younger generations who were born after his death in 1986? 

In order to explore this question, the curatorial team of Isabella Malz, Catherine Nichols and Eugen Blume added 34 works and ideas by contemporary artists, authors, thinkers and activists to the Beuys retrospective. Though these may not refer directly to Beuys and his art, they help the audience enter into a dialogue with the artist — and with each other.

For the audience's search for answers to the pressing questions of our time is not only reflected in Beuys' work: for example, there are quotes by climate activist Greta Thunberg, an interview with controversial philosopher Michele Houllebecq and insights from US civil rights activist Angela Davis, Indian ecofeminist activist Vandana Shiva, and Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

A different 'Coyote Ugly': Beuys spent two days locked up with a coyote as an action artworks

These voices are juxtaposed with Beuys' quotes, which are stuck all over the walls, creating a polyphony of sounds, words and impressions — something that the artist would probably have enjoyed himself. The exhibition almost becomes a work of action art in its own right.

However, this perhaps is also the weakness of the show in Düsseldorf: It reduces the artist to his action art, while his drawings, sculptures and mixed material creations are omitted entirely. The show is, therefore, rather less of a typical exhibition than a racecourse through Beuys' history as an artist against today's backdrop.

Expanding the meaning of art

Then again, this approach is quite in keeping with Beuys' understanding of the concept of art. With his works, his actions and his statements, Joseph Beuys always posed questions that went beyond art and creativity, using art to start debates on the fundamental structures of society and bringing his audiences into communion with each other. 

His artworks challenge established ideas: What is democracy? Has capitalism come to an end? What purpose does art serve in society? For Beuys, art did not mean individual works that one could hang up at home or in a museum but included events, conversations and thought processes.

After all, the famous Beuys quote "Every person is an artist" means that every person is a social being who has the creative power to change themselves and the world.

 

The Beuys exhibition in Düsseldorf can be seen until August 15, 2021

A complex artist

While Beuys' works may reflect many questions about society, they provide little information about the artist himself. For example, Beuys would routinely make up details about his own biography to stir up the bureaucracy that is part and parcel of the global art market. This eventually led to his dismissal as an art professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. 

Still, this is seen as an outstanding example of his talent for self-promotion, but it is unclear where the self-promotion ended and Beuys' authentic self began: For example, Beuys was a co-founder of Germany's Green Party, while hanging out in neo-Nazi circles. He promoted the cause of environmentalism while driving a big Bentley. He was staunchly against capitalism while rubbing shoulders with bankers with sketchy pasts.

Was Joseph Beuys a visionary, as his ardent admirers believe — or a charlatan hiding under a hat, as his critics say?

The Düsseldorf exhibition does not address such questions. It rather confirms the fact that Joseph Beuys was a complex artist in post-war Germany. As the Beuys anniversary year has only just begun, there might be answers to questions relating to his person elsewhere in the many events and venues highlighting and celebrating the artist's life.

This article was adapted from German.