Joseph Beuys at the Honigpumpe am Arbeitsplatz installation. Photo: Dieter Schwerdtle / Courtesy Documenta Archiv

With works by Hélio Oiticica, Maurício Ianês, Mônica Nador and Jamac, Coletivo Legítima Defesa, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tania Bruguera and Vivian Caccuri, the exhibition We are Muit+s: Experiments on Collectivity, at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, investigates artistic practice as a collective exercise. Starting on August 10, the exhibition brings together works and experiences conceived as direct or indirect dialogues with the production of the German Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) – who also has his works on display in the exhibition.

As the introductory text explains, Beuys, one of the most important and active artists of the second half of the 20th century, coined the concept of social sculpture, with which he defended the understanding of any and all human activity as an artistic practice capable of structuring and transforming your own medium. Based on this theme, “the exhibition articulates a group of artists whose research has been directed towards the creation of spaces conducive to the imagination of new forms of sociability and ways of life, as formulated by Beuys”.

Curated by Amanda Arantes, Fernanda Pitta and Jochen Volz, the show focuses on a set of works by the German, including videos, drawings, installation and collages. The “Bomba de Mel”, one of his most significant works, was presented for the first time in 1977, at Documenta 6 and brought to the exhibition. At the time, it pumped tons of honey that were distributed through plastic tubes in an allusion to the social flow.

“The maxim 'everyone is an artist', perhaps one of Beuys' best known, expresses the renunciation of the uniqueness of the work of art corresponding to the restrictive notion of authorship, but also claims the understanding that the collectivity is capable of gathering and enhancing the will and creative capacity of different individuals”, explains Arantes.

It is in this sense that the works and performances of other artists appear in the exhibition: Hélio Oiticica – one of the main artists who set out to experiment with this notion, by making the public a participant and no longer a spectator – Mônica Nador – who has been operating the Jamac since 2004. (Jardim Miriam Arte Clube), in addition to Maurício Ianês, Vivian Caccuri, the Thai Rirkrit Tiravanija, the group Coletivo Legítima Defesa and the Cuban Tania Bruguera.

We are Muit+s: Experiments on Collectivity
Pinacoteca de São Paulo – Pina Luz Building – Praça da Luz 2, São Paulo
From August 10th to October 28th, 2019
Tickets: R$ 10,00 (entry), R$ 5,00 (half) and free on Saturdays


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