Interpretation of Joseph Beuys' Felt Suit

Joseph Beuys - Felt Suit

1970

Stitched Felt

170cm x 100cm

Private Collection

Rosa Paardenkooper - Handyman

2014

Interpretation of Joseph Beuys' Felt Suit

Mixed Media
2400x1800

Istanbul

Process:

I first assembled the three pictures of the hands, I found the right and left one online, and the middle one is my own hand print. After that I edited the hands into the picture of the art work by Beuys with the help of an online photo editor.

Explanation:

I wanted to demonstrate how a small adaptation to an art work, but also to anything else, can change our perception, through juxtaposing three identical suits with a different hand. Each of the hands create a surrealist effect due to the fact that they are not fully attached to the suit, and the suit is clearly not worn by anyone. However, this effect is more expected from the middle piece, since this does not contain a real hand, then from the other two, since they could, realistically speaking, be coming out of a suit, as they are human hands. Each of the hands also show a different gesture, the first being open and reaching out, the second being completely spread, either because of tension or as a wave, the last one trying to grab something or trying to put his fingers around an unknown object. Through these different gestures I wanted to show that we can interpret someone through something as small as the way in which they position their hands, the first and second could be more welcoming, the third could be more closed.