Grüne Geige (Green Violin), 1974

The edition Green Violin is an action-object based on the violin played by Fluxus composer Henning Christiansen during the performance …Or should we change it, staged by Joseph Beuys and Christiansen at the Städtisches Museum Mönchengladbach on 27 March 1969. Many of Beuys’s early Aktionen took the form of concert-like events, reflecting his close involvement with Fluxus in the 1960s – an international movement rooted in experimental sound practices and influenced by figures such as John Cage.

Sound and silence form recurring motifs throughout Beuys’s oeuvre. Green Violin embodies this ongoing exploration, capturing not only a moment of Fluxus collaboration but also the artist’s belief in performance as a catalyst for social and imaginative transformation.

The work is in the collections of MoMA, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Hardvard Art Museums; The Broad, Los Angeles; and the National Galleries of Scotland, among others.