Abstract

This essay examines how Joseph Beuys uses the social plastic concept (›soziale Plastik‹) to think about the relationship between art and democracy. To this end, the first part analyzes the oppositions that define this concept in order to read them as the basic determinations of a dialectical concept of democracy. Against this background, the second part of the essay deals with how Beuys understands the contribution of art to democracy. In doing so, Beuys’ statement ›Every man is an artist‹ is subjected to a new reading.