In conjunction with the exhibition Joseph Beuys, held at the Seibu Museum of Art in 1984, a performance entitled Performance for Two Pianos was presented at Sogetsu Hall on June 2, 1984, by Joseph Beuys and his longtime friend and collaborator from the Fluxus movement, Nam June Paik. Although two pianos had been prepared for the occasion, Beuys never played either instrument. Instead, he performed an action entitled Coyote III using only his voice and body.
During the performance, Beuys wrote “ÖÖ” and “Coyote” on a blackboard, along with markings resembling Morse code. The inscription “ÖÖ” evoked both the cry of a coyote and the traces of its footprints. Holding a microphone in his mouth, Beuys emitted sounds resembling coughs and guttural calls, barking toward the audience and moving vigorously across the stage like an animal. Meanwhile, Paik continuously played a varied repertoire, including Chopin’s Prelude, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, “Kojo no Tsuki,” and “Akatombo,” creating a unique space in which the actions of the two artists intersected. The performance came to an abrupt end when an alarm clock set for 7:15 p.m. suddenly rang.
For Beuys, art was a creative activity through which human beings, nature, society, and language were interconnected. Central to this thinking was his concept of “external organs,” which suggested that the human body exists through its relationships with the natural environment and with others. Within this context, the image of the coyote in the performance can be understood as evoking a fundamental connection between humans and nature.
During a discussion session following the performance, Paik was asked, “What is your favorite word?” In response, he wrote Beuys’s name on the blackboard using Chinese characters such as “暮椅子” and “暮異洲,” phonetic renderings of “Beuys.” This work is the very blackboard used on that occasion. The words and symbols that remain upon its surface constitute traces of both the performance and the dialogue, embodying Beuys’s enduring exploration of the relationship between human beings and nature.