Keep All Your Friends

This chapter examines the only solo exhibition of work by Art & Language’s New York section, which took place amid the group’s collapse. This manifestation at John Weber Gallery reveals the components of Art & Language’s work torn asunder. Some projects, particularly musical collaborations with the experimental rock band the Red Krayola, extend conceptual investigations of art world discourse, while others abandon the conceptual to pursue direct political action. The latter include the results of a final international collaboration with artists in Yugoslavia, where Art & Language conducted seminars during 1976. These works focus on the concept of “self-management,” which was central to Yugoslavian state ideology at the time. The chapter ends with discussion of a film titled Struggle in New York shot by Zoran Popović, which reveals a group torn apart by the international demands of joining conceptual art to radical politics.