Social Sculpture in Practice: Joseph Beuys, Waldo Bien, and the Free International University World Art Collection, A Report

This report accounts for the existence of the Free International University World Art Collection (FIUWAC), the main project of the Free International University, Amsterdam (F.I.U.) as an exemplification of social sculpture. It will accordingly explore the meaning of the social sculpture,
the relationship between creativity and design, and the precise route in which the thinking of Joseph Beuys eventuated in Holland and acts as the inspiration and original source for the actions of many artists who have contributed to the expanded notion of art for which Beuys had been such a powerful advocate, from shortly after the end the 1940’s until his death in 1983. The specific motor in Holland is the life and work of Waldo Bien, and the continuation of the principles and activities of the Free International University. As the FIUWAC collection shows, in its almost one thousand of pieces, there is an active participation of numerous artists in the on-going process of the collection as a work of social sculpture and a vibrant generator of transformation.