Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee (1970)

Ti­tle of the album: Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee
Ti­tle: - (Seite 01)
Publisher: Gabriele Mazzotta Editore, Milano
Da­te: 1968/1970
Me­di­um: re­cord 30 cm + booklet
Edition: 500 n. & stamped

The recording Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee comes from the Fluxus concert of the same name at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and is based on a compositional idea by Henning Christiansen. The action by Joseph Beuys took place on the 14th of December 1968 together with Hennig Christiansen, a musician, and Johannes Stüttgen, a student and assistant of the artist. For almost an hour, they repeated the words Ja, Ja, Ja, Ja, Nee, Nee, Nee, Nee at different speaking speeds and with different intonations, quietly and also rhythmically.

The piece appears as a satire, as a typical conversation of old women. Yet the recording itself does not create a directly comedic effect. In the manner of a meditative mantra, the incessant, almost hypnotic repetition of a single simple phrase serves to empty the listener's mind, to free it from the habitual flood of thoughts and judgments as well as from its own incessant stream of affirmations and denials. This familiar expression in Rhenish dialect for everything and nothing becomes an ironic symbol of the irrevocable dialectic of everyday life. The ambivalence of yes/no, which is - strictly speaking - devoid of meaning, is nevertheless the exact description of a state of mind as a human expression. (Medienkunstnetz.de)

This endless monologue with its hypnotic sound was published in several formats. The sound work Ja Ja Ja Ja, Nee Nee Nee Nee was first published in 1969 as multiples, issued by Gabriele Mazzotta Editore in Milan in an edition of 100 copies. The tape reel with the recording of the action was inserted between a stack of 20 felt discs. In 1970, the vinyl album Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee was released with a gatefold cover and a 12-page booklet containing 11 full-page black and white photographs. This LP was also published by Gabriele Mazzotta Editore. For over 20 minutes per page, the voice of Joseph Beuys can be heard saying "Ja ja ja nee nee nee" over and over again in different intonations. In 2001, the Joseph Beuys Media Archive released a CD with the entire performance under the title Ja Ja Ja Ja, Nee Nee Nee Nee.

_ATJ