요셉 보이스는 자연과학적 지식에 인문학과 인지과학을 접목한 인식을 갖고 있었고, 이를 통해 유럽중심적인 사고에서 벗어난 미술가적 이상을 발전시킨다. 그의 통합적인 사고 속에서 그의 미술가적 사명은 종교적ㆍ생태학적ㆍ신체적 관점을 넘나드는 미술개념과 동시대적 ‘조형미술의 원리’를 창안해낸다. 삶과 미술이 합일된 일상과 사회적 유기체 속에서 그의 조형원리의 실천은 사회에 변화를 이끌어내는 ‘확장된 미술개념”으로 발전되며 또 이것이 인류의 화합을 위한 대안문화로서 현대사회의 요구임을 우리에게 알린다.
The 20th century was when a great narrative was prevalent. The stream of modem philosophy was reluctant to deeply inquire into the experience and perception of a daily life, all the more, categorized it as thinking as it is an imitator. Like keeping pace with that, the art theory and practice manifesting the 20th century modernism incited competition and achievements running parallelling with technology rapidly make a progress, in which the art community preferred political activity focusing on an outcome. From that, art education has picked out and taught one aesthetic value and theory by a closed art concept that it can be created only a trained artist, and led it having been created and appreciated. But since the 2nd world war, artists pointing out the limit of such an art concept, and devoting themselves to quite different art concept definitions with deep contemplation and reflection, and newly inquired theory, such as J. Beuys, R. Hamilton, A. Warhol, J. Kosuth, J. Jones, Nam June Baik etc.) have emerged. Those artists exerted themselves to express the nature of a uniformed existence since art culture is closely connected with a routine, not for recreation, but art practice separated from life was their reality. As Ather Danto put it, "everything can be an art work.", there was no boundary in the expression method and type of their work. The work contents put up a solitary struggle of search for our existence meaning and nature, and an alternative of the intellectual familiarity of various academic disciplines such as natural science and humanities, and transmission of the message. Especially, the thinking foundation, had already perception of a certain 'realization'. This is the very situation arousing us to perceive that there is something to know only by realizing many things to know as they are in the world. So this study assumed that the inquiry of such thinking should never be overlooked. Such Joseph Beuys(1921-1986) is the one grafting natural scientific knowledge, cognitive science and human science from religious, ecological, and physical viewpoint, and developing his artistic mission and ideal. For this, evolving integrated knowledge to contemporary one, he developed an artistic concept deepening it to social practice through artistic creation. Early, he realized that "Christusimpuls" through the cognitive science of Rudolf Steiner, and understood so-called 'Christ residing in us' in the 'ecological creation theory' of ecological theology as 'the substance of Christ'. In addition, friendship with an ecologist, Konrad Lorenz with him understanding a society as "an organism" and inquiring into it, deepens his ecological understanding, where he realizes that the existence of all creatures are moved and operated by a universal circular system. Here he perceives 'a physical body' underestimated by the legacy of scientific mechanical thinking, modem learning, that is, the value of the flesh. The perception that soul and spirit with a body can not exist gives a shape to the meaning of Jesus incarnation' in his deep faith. He made effort to fulfill this 'salvation meaning' as healing to humankind and ecological system like 'Transsubstantiation' taking place Catholic Communion through art creation. Having become a start-up member of German Green Party to an alternative thinking to future culture, he nude an fundamental inquiry to "Gegenraum-Waerme-Zeit" between the life of birth, death. Pointing out that as future natural science can't continue without anti-, or non-scientific thing, we live in materials things, but actually live in an immaterial thing, he puts emphasis on that art includes non-art as well. For him, non-art is a concept called 'space', and '(always not sufficient and definite)time', and 'substantial core not dying in a nun', and 'the life after death'. However, has a question about if a nun can credibly control his creation in space and time, or if there is any standard, so resolve such a question by the perception and insight in an 'ethical and religious context.' That's why he criticized, but developed an art concept in a religious and ecological thinking. So the works ranging from the selection of materials to Fluxus, Installation, Aktion art etc., should be approached in the continuum of 'the body containing spirit and soul'. Such art concept of his is named 〈Soziale Plastik〉 is the goal and alternative culture to facilitate an action for curing humankind and earth ecological world. Thus this 'behavior/action' should promote a change in a society through media called art, and the enlargement of this change becomes 'the expanded art concept'. Thus "Beuys' expanded art concept" can said not to be a theory, but that kind of "style of conduct". This art concept and his alternative culture can be confirmed that it still works in Kassel, Germany, on a city basis.