Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys, one of the most influential and charismatic artists of the second half of the 20th century, made his belief in universal human creativity a cornerstone of his socially, politically, and ecologically engaged work. He created Capri-Batterie during the last year of his life, while recovering from a lung illness on the Italian island of Capri. Beuys connected a lemon to a light socket, thus demonstrating that the typical Mediterranean fruit can power the attached yellow bulb and creating a metaphor for nature’s transformative and healing power. The work reveals Beuys’s interest in the circulation of energy and his concern with the commodification and consumption of nature in contemporary society.