General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
One Year of AZT 1991
General Idea, One Year of AZT, 1991
1,825 units of vacuum-formed styrene with vinyl wall-mounted capsules,
12.7 x 31.7 x 6.3 cm each
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
This installation brings the challenges of living with HIV to the fore. Here, the artists have
created plastic capsules that represent the antiretroviral drug AZT (azidothymidine),
which Felix Partz was taking at the time. The installation is comprised of 1,825 pills,
corresponding to the exact amount of Partz’s annual dosage.1
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