The formation of memory and plastic language in the art of joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer

The concept of artist emerged with the transition to urban life after industrialization and modern art; art production has become individualized; the artist has begun handle social problems as a social identity. Such problems have pushed the artists to new directions, and the art object was redefined. The artwork doesn't have to be an aesthetic object anymore. The aesthetic concerns in gallery walls which become commodities were replaced by ideas and concepts. From now on, artists criticize galleries and museums and don't accept such fact as the purchase and sale of art. As a resulting of these orientations question the atmosphere in which artists live and the reflections of the society with the images and objects they choose. Art production with changing aesthetic paradigms after 1960, is reshaped as a contemporary ritual trying to get involved in life with the performance art and the Fluxus movement. Fluxus and performance art, turn art production into an experimental arena where human inquiries are made. German artist Joseph Beuys is a prominent name in conceptual art, Fluxus and performance art. Anselm Kiefer, who produces installations querying German identity with his personal story in work was a student of Beuys. In this study, conceptual art, Fluxus and performance art that emerged in 1960s evaluated by Joseph Beuys and the Neo Expressionism movement in 1970s by Anselm Kiefer, were investigated for plastic language, image and object choices. The memory element in the art of Beuys and Kiefer and their effects on each other were examined.