It was in 1971, that the action by Joseph Beuys Celtic + ~ took place in Basel, a variant of Celtic (Kinloch Rannoch), presented in Edinburgh in 1970. The artist was then inspired by the Anglo-Saxon imaginary, and notably the Christian revival of the myth of Celtic origins, the quest for the Holy Grail. Joseph Beuys evokes the pierced flank of Christ by manufacturing a lance out of recycled materials, which he holds, stoically, for around thirty minutes. He also recalls the life of Christ in two other re-enactments: when he washes the feet of certain members of the audience, then, standing in a basin, when one of his assistants reproduces the action of baptism by pouring the contents of a watering can over his head. The musical accompaniment of certain parts of the action, consisting of sounds of bells and covers of Gospel themes played on the piano, also contributes to the openly religious connotation of

Celtic. It would, however, be simplistic to confine this action to a basic evocation of Christianity. Joseph Beuys also screened some of his films during the performance, confronting as usual the formless and the formed – here, by throwing gelatine onto a wall. But above all, he explores notions of language: he emits inarticulate sounds into a microphone and draws many charts relating to speech onto blackboards (the former reproduce the operation of the larynx and mouth while the latter represents an object stemming from the oral tradition: the Grail). Juxtaposing elements related to language, sculpture, and salvation, Joseph Beuys puts his conception of a form of art with a therapeutic vocation into images, a form of art that sculpts the social body through speech.

Philippe Bettinelli,
Translated by Anna Knight