On 7 January 1980, several days after the end of his retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum of New York, Joseph Beuys gave a public appearance at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Arts. He thus put his principles of social sculpture and broadening of the concept of art to the test of the audience's scepticism. The exchange was not however limited to the usual Q&A, and was characterised by an unexpected event: a young man got up on stage and invited the artist to participate in a short performance. Joseph Beuys complied, laughing: his improvising partner threw him a globe, which they threw back and forth until it landed on the floor and smashed. The dialogue with the audience then continued normally.

Philippe Bettinelli,
Translated by Anna Knight