On Friendship/(Collateral Damage) IV

DEUTSCHE BANK NEDERLAND, De entree 195, Amsterdam
24 May Opening exhibition
24 september 2022 24 May Opening exhibition Bas Marteijn, Chief Country Officer Deutsche Bank Netherlands and performance, Lecture 

Lecture:
Dr. Arie Hartog, director Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Beuys, the Deutsche Bank has shown works from their collection from the fifties in Palais Royale. The Deutsche Bank had a very close relationship with Joseph Beuys through personal contacts, exhibitions, performances and the purchase of his work. Joseph Beuys has often reflected on the themes of money and capitalism in his work and performances, especially in 'Das Kapital Raum 1970-1977' (1980) (in his words: art means capital), a key work that was sold for many millions of euros. to the German art collector Erich Marx. It consists of a piano grand against which an ax rests, 36 written blackboards, a film projector, a bathtub made of zinc, in which Beuys exposed the limitations of a money-driven economy. Beuys, inspired by Rudolf Steiner, wanted to strip art of its sanctity 'Jeder mensch ist ein Kunstler'. Not money, but creativity is the real capital. 

Dr. Arie Hartog: "Ich zeige Ihnen ein Bild von der Performance "Wie man einem toten deutschen Künstler das Hasenjagen erklärt" des israelischen Künstlers Joseph Semah von 1986. Darin erinnert der eine Joseph den anderen daran, dass Hasen in der europäischen Kulturgeschichte auch als Symbol für Juden galten. Der Hitlerjunge Beuys wusste das und so bekommt sein späteres Spiel mit toten Hasen eine weitere Bedeutungsschicht. Aber der Vorwurf gilt weniger Beuys als den Bewunderern, die sich immer da zurückzogen, wo es schwierig und kompliziert wurde - und nur noch vom größten deutschen Künstler in der romantischen Tradition schwärmten. (Und dass die andere Hitlerjugend verstanden, worauf Beuys mit seinen toten Hasen anspielte, darf ebenfalls vermutet werden)."

Performance:
In the performance with his friends (Baruch Abraham, Masja Austen, Peter Baren, Bülent Evren, Jom Semah) How to Explain Hare Hunting to a Dead German Artist / Wie man einem toten deutschen Künstler die Hasenjagd erklärt at the Deutsche Bank Nederland (24 May 2022) in Amsterdam, Sassoon Semah reflected once again on Joseph Beuys famous performance 26 November 1965 in Galerie Schmela in Düsseldorf in which the dead hare on his lap was the centerpiece. In a glass-enclosed room, sitting at a table with ten wax candlesticks, Joseph Sassoon Semah was grounding hare meat throughout the performance. According to the Jewish tradition, the hare is among mammals deemed not kosher, and therefore not eaten by (observant) Jews. After grinding the meat, he molded the meat into a Tefillin (Jewish prayer box). His friends read some segments from his letter to Albrecht Dürer and the title of the performance was endlessly repeated. Lyrics were sung from the Talmud Bavely. 

Exhibition
An exhibition was set up on two floors of the Deutsche Bank, including the new installation How to explain Hare Hunting to a Dead German Artist, 2022 consists of 36 meat grinders, placed between 5 copper sheets, and Joseph Beuys' hat casted in bronze on top was part of the performance. 

Comparative Performance: Joseph Sassoon Semah with friends How to Explain Hare Hunting to a Dead German Artist Deutsche Bank Nederland Head Quarter Amsterdam, 24-5-2022

Lecture: Dr. Arie Hartog Reading Joseph Beuys after Joseph Sassoon Semah Deutsche Bank Netherlands Head Quarter Amsterdam, 24-5-2022

Wie man einem toten deutschen Künstler das Hasen jagen erklärt (How to Explain Hare Hunting to a Dead German Artist) 2022
5 copper plates 100 x 80 x 0.7 cm, fedora temple felt hat cast in bronze, 36 meat grinders
Courtesy of Deutsche Bank Nederland, headquarter Amsterdam