General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
General Idea draws on found footage from
popular television and films, using it to ironic
ends. In Part 1 the artists appropriate a scene
from the television series Batman in which the
Joker presents a blank canvas as part of a
painting competition. His entry is initially met
with confusion, but when it is seen as symbolic
of the emptiness of modern life, the Joker wins
the contest. General Idea believed that the Joker
was based on French artist Yves Klein (1928–
1962), who had appeared on American
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television on The Ed Sullivan Show. General
Idea employs this clip to criticize art and the
notion of the artist as a singular, tortured genius,
which they saw as a fraudulent spectacle.
In Part 2 a series of dancing scenes is set
to upbeat music and barking. This section
foregrounds poodles—a significant image in
Video still from General Idea, Shut the Fuck Up, 1985, colour video, 14 min., various collections. This still
features found footage from the 1960s television show Batman
General Idea’s oeuvre intended to represent the
queer artist. Imagery of fornicating neon dogs is
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overlaid on scenes of people dressed as poodles dancing in a studio. This footage was
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appropriated from an Italian television music show at the time. The section is
bookended by a dialogue between Partz and AA Bronson about artists and the media, a
fast repartee filled with puns. Fittingly, the artists appear dressed as poodles.
Part 3 opens with footage from Anthropométries, a series Yves Klein created in
the early 1960s. In these events, Klein choreographed