General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
General Idea, 1-046 The Colour Bar, 1975, gelatin silver print, felt pen, and screen
print on paperboard, 45.7 x 35.6 cm, edition of two with occasional artist’s proofs,
signed (rubber-stamped) and numbered, various collections, from Showcard Series,
1975–79
General Idea, 2-015 Slow Zoom Into Ziggurat Tower, 1975, gelatin silver print, felt
pen, and screen print on paperboard, 45.7 x 35.6 cm, edition of two with occasional
artist’s proofs, signed (rubber-stamped) and numbered, various collections, from
Showcard Series, 1975–79
The cards in this open-ended series were produced in editions of two and were all
designed in the same format: a light-blue grid that resembles a magazine layout page,
with specific areas for photos and text, and labelled sections for department, addenda,
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copy number, layout date, and signature. Each card is clearly titled “THE 1984 MISS
GENERAL IDEA PAGEANT PAVILLION” in capital letters, connecting this work to
General Idea’s larger project of building—and, after 1977, recovering—this fictional
Pavillion.
The cards are duplicates of the layout cards that General Idea used for issues of
FILE Megazine. Stamped and dated, each card is labelled with a specific “Department,”
as follows: “1. The Search for the Spirit of Miss General Idea”; “2. The 1984 Miss
General Idea Pageant”; “3. Miss General Idea 1984”; “4. The 1984 Miss General Idea
Pavillion”; and “5. The Frame of Reference.” These categories cover the key fictional
narratives that structure General Idea’s work through the 1970s to the mid-1980s.
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