Joseph Beuys: Boxkampf für die direkte Demokratie

Boxkampf für die direkte Demokratie (Boxing Match for Direct Democracy) puts into context Beuys’ 1972 work of the same name, which itself was borne out of Beuys’s involvement in Documenta V.  The culmination of Beuys’ conceptual project was ‘farewell action’- a boxing match which took place on the final day of documenta V between Beuys himself and Abraham David Christian of which Beuys was declared the winner. In the 100 days preceding this spectacle, Beuys established an ‘Information for The Organisation for Direct Democracy’ where he stationed himself for the duration of Documenta V. This acted as a platform for Beuys’ impassioned debates on social reform, heavily influenced by the work of Rudolf Steiner.

The exhibition brings together Beuys’s 1972 sculpture, which incorporates the two original pairs of boxing gloves, protective helmet and the boxing ring ropes from ‘farewell action’. This will be displayed alongside re-mastered archive footage of the boxing match, which makes its UK premiere.