How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare

In Joseph Beuys' 1965 performance piece, How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, the artist coated his head with gold leaf and honey and for several hours whispered to a dead hare cradled in his arms. While the piece was about life and death, according to Beuys, it was also about the absurdity of trying to put visual art into words and explain it. In his own words, "Intellectualizing can be deadly to thought: one can talk one's mind to death in politics or in academia."