MONOCULTURE | A Recent History

This work originated during the action Infiltration Homogen für Konzertflügel, der größte Komponist der Gegenwart ist das Contergankind, performed by Joseph Beuys in 1966 during a Fluxus festival at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. With his action, Beuys wanted to highlight the pharmaceutical scandal surrounding thalidomide, a drug that caused serious birth defects in children whose mother took it during pregnancy. Beuys silences a grand piano by coating it with felt. The work seeks to indicate the danger that occurs when we remain silent. Infiltration Homogen für Konzertflügel was exhibited at Wide White Space in 1970.