The performance is inspired by the art installation “Fettecke” (“fat corner”, 1983) by Joseph Beuys in room 3 of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany. It was a controversial arrangement of butter mass in his studio. After Beuys death, the “Fettecke” was removed in 1986 by the caretaker. A scandal that made this one of the most famous works of the artist. Since then, the saying circulated on everyone’s lips, whether secretly whispering or as a direct response in the face of the ambiguity of a questionable piece of art: “Ist das Kunst oder kann das weg” (“Is this art or can I clean up”).
With the notorious sentence on the naked body “Ist das Kunst oder kann das weg” Milo Moiré visits the „Rundgang“ (tour) of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2019. In the so-called hallowed halls, the students present their work to the general public for four days.
With the performance Milo Moiré embodies with self-irony the fundamental misunderstanding of the artist. Not answers but questions sharpen the new view, so the artist. It honors all works of art that were not recognized as such, mocked, disapproved or even destroyed.
© Milo Moiré/ Peter Palm