Felt: Fluxus, Joseph Beuys, and the Dalai Lama

(Paperback)

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Felt provides a nonlinear look at the engagement of the postwar avant-garde with Eastern spirituality, a context in which the German artist Joseph Beuys appears as an uneasy shaman. Centered on a highly publicized yet famously inconclusive 1982 meeting between Beuys and the Dalai Lama, arranged by the Dutch artist Louwrien Wijers, Chris Thompson explores the interconnections among Beuys, the Fluxus movement, and Eastern philosophy and spiritual practice.

Reviews

"Felt introduces us to a new generation of experimental performance scholars, seeking simultaneously art historical, experiential, and poetic points of entry into the important art of our time. Chris Thompson clearly has a defining role to play in this process and does it with aplomb." Hannah Higgins, author of Fluxus Experience
"In the end, Felt is a letter lovingly recounting the often fragile moments in which artists have put themselves on the line to try to bring about a transformation in the human spirit. Thompsons answer to his own questionwhat happens when nothing happensseems to be, quite a lot." Andrew Murphie, co-author of Culture and Technology

Author Bio

Chris Thompson is associate professor of art history at the Maine College of Art.