Note 4

Posted by admin on September 13th, 2008 filed in Notes

It is possible that Joseph Beuys’ ‘coyote’ action of 1974, in which he lives with a wild coyote in a New York gallery for a few days, was inspired by Wohl’s experiment with a spider in the mid-sixties. He is reported to have spent 24 hours in a dark cupboard with a live tarantula. Friends who maintained a vigil beside the cupboard in Wohl’s flat could only remember one unusual incident during the event. About halfway through the ordeal Wohl was suddenly heard to recite Blake’s ‘Tyger, Tyger, burning bright…’ in perfect English. This was followed by versions in French, German, Italian and rather poor Spanish.

When he emerged 12 hours later, unharmed but hungry, he pointed out that the spider, which spent most of the time rubbing its body against Wohl’s neck, seemed to make no distinction between the 5 versions of the poem. The broad grin which accompanied this information did not obscure a puzzled furrowing of the brow, which suggested Wohl himself thought his joke had a potentially serious dimension.