General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
A Conceptual Approach to Collaboration
General Idea embraced a conceptual approach
to making art. While they had numerous
influences, the collaborative aspect of their
work was informed by several factors: the
performative work in the 1960s that emerged
from Fluxus, Happenings, and Viennese
Actionism; their activity within avant-garde
theatre, which in the period widely used
collective techniques; the filmmaking practices
of Mike Kuchar (b. 1942) and George Kuchar
(1942–2011) and Jack Smith (1932–1989),
who employed their social circle in their films;
and Andy Warhol’s (1928–1987) Factory,
a site where Warhol and his circle of friends
produced art.
1
“THREE HEADS ARE BETTER”
proclaimed a 1978 issue of FILE Megazine, the
Performance documentation of Jim Dine, Car Crash, performed at the Reuben Gallery, New York,
November 16, 1960, photograph by Robert R. McElroy. Happenings, such as this one, are performative
works marked by the breakdown of the division between life and art
publication the group founded in 1972.2 This
statement was a cheeky testament to General
Idea’s shared vision, and the article explained their consensus-based working model:
“Our three sets of eyes perform a single point of view. Other lines of vision are tolerated
3
around the conference table but when out in public solidarity is essential.” In this way,
General Idea made clear that the identity of the group superseded the identity of its
individual members. The group took on “a single point of view,” and thus considered
itself a single entity. Their non-hierarchical, cooperative approach was also tied to the
values of community espoused in the 1960s. Additionally, the group composition
critiqued the conventional public image of the artist. As General Idea explained, “Being a
trio freed us from the tyranny of individual genius.”4
General Idea’s partnership was more than a working relationship: it extended to all
aspects of the artists’ lives. “[I]t was kind of an odd collaboration,” Bronson explained, “in
that we both lived and worked together. So it was a kind of domestic as well as an art
relationship.”5 The group upheld their tripartite structure as a reason for their long-term
success and stability between 1969 and 1994. General Idea’s conceptual projects and
collaborative working method stand as part of their legacy, especially as collaborative art
production has gained ground in the contemporary era.6
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