"Creativity is not limited to people practising one of the traditional forms of art, and even in the case of artists, creativity is not confined to the exercise of their art. Each one of us has a creative potential, which is hidden by competitiveness and success-aggression."
In artwork that is both symbolic and autobiographical, Beuys is directly inspired by episodes from his life. Associated with the Fluxus movement, he conceives a total work of art that features his life, his work, and his place as a man in society. Beuys is interested in alchemy, the links between religion and science, and evolution. He builds an iconography in which various uncommon media take centre stage: grease, earth, blood, sulfur, wood, etc. He practices various expression techniques (drawing, sculpture, performance, happening, installation). This multidisciplinarity found its natural extension when Beuys founded The Free International University for Creativity and Interdisciplinary Research in 1973. There, he developed his concept of « social sculpture », a vision of a more just society: for him, « everyone is an artist » in a creative sense.