Professor at the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf (Kunstakademie) from 1961 to 1972, Joseph Beuys presents teaching as "his greatest work of art". While the pedagogical activity of the artist plays an important role within his project of social sculpture, it also made him a central character in the development of the German arts scene in the second half of the twentieth century: artists such as Jörg Immendorf, Anselm Kiefer, and Blinky Palermo, among others, passed through his studio.

In 1971, Hans Emerling filmed the activity in the studio for several days: while the video that he produced is sometimes related to the work of Joseph Beuys himself (we can catch a glimpse of the installation The Horde, or see the artist in an action recalling Celtic +~), above all it provides an opportunity to meet his students. In an atmosphere of happy confusion, the latter describe their experiences at the Academy, the teaching of Joseph Beuys and his influence on certain students.

A year later, many students who want to enrol in Joseph Beuys' class are refused. In protest, the artist occupies the secretariat of the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf with around fifty students, which provokes his dismissal. Many students oppose his departure, immortalised by the photograph Democracy is Funny. Joseph Beuys thus begins a legal battle to win back his position, and dedicates himself to the development of his alternative pedagogical organisation, the F.I.U. (Free International University).

Philippe Bettinelli,
Translated by Anna Knight