General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E . K . Smith
General Idea , FILE Megazine , “ Glamour Issue ,” vol . 3 , no . 1 , 1975 Web offset periodical , eighty pages plus cover , black and white reproductions and eight-page insert by Image Bank Various collections
Created by General Idea in 1972 , FILE Megazine ran for twenty-six issues , ending in 1989 . Superficially , the publication mimicked the well-known American magazine LIFE , though its content did not . The title FILE was a clear pun on LIFE , as well as an overt reference to the notion of art imitating life and life imitating art . In the artists ’ words , FILE was “ a cultural parasite carried along in the mainstream blood stream of commercial distribution systems and subtly altered the body of its host .” Filled with “ wisecracks , wordplay , and cryptic layers of fact and fiction ,” the publication provided a broad , multifaceted platform through which General Idea could further their own self-invented mythology .
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The “ Glamour Issue ” of FILE illuminates , in the group ’ s words , “ the story of glamour and the part it played in our art .” In the issue ’ s editorial , the members of General Idea directly address the slippage between fact and fiction : “ All myth and no content . Or is it vice versa ?”— this assessment reflecting General Idea ’ s practice as a whole .
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This publicity shot of various issues of FILE Megazine includes a double-page spread from the “ Glamour ” manifesto in FILE Megazine , “ Glamour Issue ,” vol . 3 , no . 1 ( autumn 1975 ), 20 – 21 , photograph by General Idea
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