General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E . K . Smith
General Idea also played with the notion of commerce and art by creating boutiques designed to function as retail sites within gallery and museum spaces . These derived from the artists ’ consideration of the art world : “ We were observing the beginnings of the blockbuster and the way that the museums were involving themselves with the world of money and marketing ,” Bronson said . The Boutique from the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion , 1980 , for instance , was a store counter made of galvanized metal and shaped like a threedimensional dollar sign . The Boutique sold a range of multiples by General Idea . These multiples included objects featured in Test Tube , such as Magic Palette , 1980 , a metal tray shaped as a painter ’ s palette accompanied by six aluminum cups . Magic Palette was disseminated along with a softcover book , The Getting into the Spirits Cocktail Book from the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion .
¥ en Boutique , 1991 , was another example of General Idea ’ s engagement with consumption . Its creation corresponded with the rising economic dominance of Japan at
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the time . The ¥ en Boutique is a play on the shop format . The kiosk ( which sporadically offered multiples for sale ) was created by the group for museum display . The boutique format continued to hold interest for the group in the 1990s . The final boutique General Idea created was Boutique Coeurs volants , 1994 / 2001 .
General Idea , Liquid Assets , 1980 , prototype for the edition , brushed aluminum , glass test tube , 27.3 17.8 x 7 cm , photograph by Peter MacCallum . This photograph was featured on the cover of FILE Megazine , “ Special $ ucce $$ Issue ,” vol . 5 , no . 1 ( March 1981 )
General Idea , Magic Palette , 1980 , found object of anodized aluminum cups on chromed-metal palette , object : 5.5 x 19.7 x 14.5 cm , various collections , photograph by General Idea . This photograph of the multiple is featured on the cover of the paperback edition of The Getting into the Spirits Cocktail Book from the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion , 1980
HIV / AIDS Activism General Idea made a profound contribution to the discourse on HIV / AIDS in the late 1980s and early 1990s . This turn in their art occurred in 1987 , when they created a painting for a fundraiser for the American Foundation for AIDS Research ( amfAR ). In AIDS , 1987 , the artists appropriated American artist Robert Indiana ’ s ( b . 1928 ) painting LOVE , 1966 , replacing the word “ LOVE ” with the name of the new disease . The ironic appropriation of Indiana ’ s work was , AA Bronson later noted , in “ bad taste . There was no
48 doubt about that .” At the time , other artists were addressing the disease didactically in
their work , in contrast to the more ambiguous statement General Idea made with AIDS .
Despite the initial reaction to the work , General Idea went on to create a series of projects around their AIDS logo , producing these in diverse media , from posters to stamps to rings . They advanced this logo to raise awareness about and combat the stigma and misinformation surrounding AIDS . Bronson stated , “ Part of the hook of it for us was the fact that it involved so many issues , not only health issues , which were
especially acute in the U . S ., but also issues of copyright and consumerism .” The artists also continued to raise funds for AIDS charities through initiatives such as
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Installation view of AIDS , 1989 , powder-coated metal ( steel ), with stickers , felt pen , and assorted items added by the public , 201 x 198.8 x 100.5 cm , National Gallery of Canada , Ottawa , photograph by Pierre Antoine . This installation view shows the sculpture at General Idea ’ s Fin de siècle , Württembergischer Kunstverein , Stuttgart , 1992 . To the left of the sculpture , Felix Partz is pictured with two unidentified women
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