2022 Studio Louwrien Wijers

Louwrien Wijers (born Aalten, January 26, 1941) visual artist and writer, but I feel a sculptor. After eighteen years,1968 to 1986, working with Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) like him I see writing, speaking and thinking as sculpture. Fluxus inspired me in 1964 in Paris. That was the way I wanted to go. My work is both mental and metal sculpture. Best-known is my mental sculpture 'Art meets Science and Spirituality in a changing Economy' Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, 1990 and Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, 1996. From 1998 to 2005 my focus was on ‘Compassionate Economy’ with the slogan ‘From Competition to Compassion’. It brought the clear conclusion that, as the Russian economist Stanislav Menshikov had said, “Satisficing not Maximising is the trend in economics today.” In 2010 I felt my edict ‘No Lying / No Killing / No Stealing // Grains / Vegetables / Beans’ is a firm basis for a fruitful world economy, world household, because the meaning of ‘economy’ is ‘household’. In 2012 the power of food on our future turned relevant in ‘Cooking Together / Eating Together / Speaking Together’, meetings where Egon Hanfstingl taught how to daily cook fresh food, while I made people dialogue. As Beuys had said: “A permanent dialogue concerning all human problems has to begin.” And: “A social dialogue, I call it the ʻSocial Sculptureʼ, that for me is the most important work of art.” Then the catchphrase ‘Science is the Past / Art is the Present / Food is the Future’ was added to our food actions. Moving to Friesland, after 50 years Amsterdam, on the suggestion of the Mondriaan Fund I started ‘Gueststudio Louwrien Wijers’, where my skills and archive were shared with guest artists staying for two months. When in 2017 Friesland’s provincial capital Leeuwarden was announced ‘Cultural Capital of Europe’ in 2018, my wish was to make known that Beuys originates from Friesland and brought his direct-democracy ideas from here. The event ‘100DaysBeuys’, 8 June -16 Sept 2018 was initiated. Speakers who had known Beuys well came to Ferwert to explain the many subjects Beuys tied to his ‘Social Sculpture’, as ‘Direct Democracy through Referendum’, a ‘Basic Income for Everybody’, the ‘Expanded Concept of Art’, ‘Creativity is our real Capital’, ‘Everybody is an Artist’ and “let’s change our legal system back to the pre-roman Frisian/Celtic laws”. End 2018 ‘Tomorrow’s Language’ and ‘Saint Society’ became subjects. Now, 2023, I try to join the digital approach with Direct Democracy and a Basic Income, to create that borderless society we need so everybody participates and collaborates across diversity. Audrey Tang, Minister of Digital Affairs in Taiwan, says: “That’s the way we’re employing digital technologies.” I hope Audrey Tang brings digital, Direct Democracy and Basic Income together in 2024.