Green Party

The Green Party is identified in the diary as the party under which Joseph Beuys was running for president of Germany in April 1980. Its brief appearance connects the party to Beuys’s political ambitions and to the press attention he sought during a public visit to Naples.

Candidacy in Germany

On April 1, 1980, while in Naples, Beuys’s political campaign came up during a press conference attended by about 400 people. The diary first records his candidacy as being under the Free Sky Party, then immediately corrects the name to the Green Party. That correction is the entry’s defining detail: the Green Party is named as the affiliation, while the diary offers no further account of the party’s platform or organization.

Publicity and Visibility

The account links Beuys’s candidacy to his interest in press coverage. It observes that he now welcomed the press because he was running for president and could attract more coverage by appearing alongside Andy Warhol. In this episode, the Green Party enters the narrative through the publicity surrounding Beuys’s campaign, rather than through a description of its activities or policies.

Scope of the Account

The diary records the candidacy and its use in explaining Beuys’s attention to the press, but does not describe the campaign’s progress or outcome. The Green Party’s significance here is therefore specific: it is the corrected name of the political party associated with Beuys’s German presidential run, mentioned during a press-filled day in Naples.