CAPITAL is at present the work sustaining ability. Money is not
an economic value though. The two genuine economic values
involve the connection between ability (creativity) and product.
That explains the formula presenting the expanded concept of
art: ART=CAPITAL. -Joseph Beuys, 1985 Impassioned by economics
and politics, Joseph Beuys’ art was one of social
transformation. In this 1983 lithograph Creativity = Capital, we
see a palimpsest of arguments, designs and proofs reminiscent of
the artist’s blackboard drawings in which he “worked out” plans
and found inspiration for his socially transformative art.
Standing boldly on top of these plans, the slogan “Creativity =
Capital” is printed almost as the final and resolute conclusion.
The slogan (also found as “Art = Capital”) is repeated in many
of his other works and is often interpreted as an assertion for
an expanded understanding of art in which creativity and capital
are the fundamental forces for the reformation of society. In
his thought, creativity was