In 1974, the German conceptual artist landed in a New York City airport whereupon assistants wrapped him in felt and brought him to the René Block Gallery in SoHo in an ambulance.

[2] Caroline Tisdall, Beuys's collaborator and travel companion, documented the performance in black and white photographs and on video.

[2] During this time, Beuys saw the United States as divided over its involvement in the Vietnam War and its racial divisions and subjugation, and wanted his performance to address the split between Native and European intelligence, the latter being more materialistic, mechanistic, and positivistic.

[2] Artsy wrote that the piece's title, evoking the melting pot metaphor for Americanization, stood in contrast with the divisions Beuys saw in America.

[2] Photographs from the performance were shown at the Edinburgh Festival, where they greatly affected the future artist Jimmy Boyle.

[4] The curator RoseLee Goldberg too found the photographs poetic, only to be changed by a video of the performance in which she saw the sadness of the coyote.