Fruchtmann

The fictional work addresses the relationship between a student and his instructor Joseph Beuys. Ten years after Beuys' death, the student reaches out to his former teacher in a letter. The focus is on the inner process of detachment, the struggle with the dominant teacher figure, and with one's own artistic identity. The author of the letter became Beuys' student at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in the early 1970s. After Beuys' dismissal, he is among the small group of loyal students who remain in Beuys' former class until its final dissolution four years later. The daily experience of Beuys during the first semesters becomes a revelation of an ideal artistic existence. The depiction of the academy situation is informed by relevant Beuys literature as well as numerous conversations that the author Tibor Pataky has had with former Beuys students.