From their beginnings in 1966, Art & Language have called the traditional concept of art into question and as a result of their modus operandi have largely been assigned to the category of concept art. Proceeding from Marxist and linguistic analyses, they have from the very outset radically opposed any variation of l’art pour l’art and individualist conceptions, their intention being to replace art objects by linguistic concepts.

In conjunction with the symposium Art & Language are presenting their latest work on the ZKM Museum balcony. Art & Language and The Red Krayola, a karaoke installation, is a product of the artists’ cooperation with The Red Krayola which harks back to tracks from the albums Corrected Slogans and Kangaroo? in the 1970s and early 1980s. Also on show will be the works Now They Are Surrounded and One Year, the ZKM Calendar of the Year 2005, which Art & Language have artistically reworked. There will also be a first-time screening of the video Harald Schmidt is Niklas Luhmann in ‘Weltkunst’, a production by the Jackson Pollock Bar in Freiburg. Weltkunst, Luhmann’s most concise essay on art and observation relations in the art system, is read by Harald Schmidt in the foyer of the Schauspielhaus Bochum.

Organization / Institution

ZKM