Joseph Beuys
(c)SABAM België, 2017 - photo: Courtesy Sammlung der Pinakothek der Moderne, München
Zwei Fraulein mit leuchtenden Brot, 1966
Two Young Women with Shining Bread consists of two typewritten lists of words, separated by a piece of painted chocolate. The first list contains thirty destinations – all station names from a map of the Paris Metro. The second list (underneath the bar of chocolate) starts with the words ‘back via’ [zurück über] and appears to be entirely random. However, the final entry ‘Télégraphe’ is the first location on the first list, suggesting a circular journey.
Beuys has suggested the first part of the journey takes place ‘underground’ (the deeper meaning of matter) and the second leg is located in ‘open air’ (the elevated realm of spirit).
The chocolate, separating the two parts of the journey, is coated in a brown paint, often used by Beuys. By painting the chocolate, it takes on a new meaning. In this case it becomes a bridge between the two stages and the two realms contained in the lists.
Edition: 500, not signed, not numbered
30 copies of the edition signed and numbered as special edition
Typos Verlag, Frankfurt