Joseph Beuys: “I like America and America likes Me” (Coyote) 1/4
German artist Joseph Beuys’ performative rendering of his relationship to America, as represented by a wild coyote, in a New York gallery
(Bear in mind Beuys was affiliated with the Nazi party and that certainly would’ve affected his welcoming in America, which is arguably related to his inability to actually step foot on American soil, with the exception of the gallery space—he was transferred from the airport to the gallery by way of ambulance and gurney.)
I recently saw “Monsieur Lazhar” in theatres; and the protagonist says that “White Fang” becomes tame but nonetheless remains independent and wild. I see an interesting correlation between Lazhar’s analysis of “White Fang” and the coyote in Beuys’ piece (as towards the end of Beuys’ encounter with the coyote, the relationship bears more semblance to a relationship between a man and his dog rather than a man and a wild animal, both armed with the capacity to harm and/or kill one another). Now, to make the claim factually and accurately that America is in fact tame but wild and independent in the post-modern world (Beuys’ piece dates to the 1960s) is another conversation.
Training the Afghans
“The brave men on the Afghan Border Police. If you like this I have more like it. In response to many comments I just want to state that this video isn’t to poke fun at any ethnic group, just to show a group of men that have a tough time doing some exercises and could laugh about it at the same time. They tried to teach us one of their dances and we looked just as funny doing that.”
