General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
might never forgive themselves for ranged from “Wasting My Time” to “Not Knowing You
Better.”
General Idea, Dear General Idea, if I live to be a hundred I’ll never forgive myself for…, 1972, offset on bond paper, 28 x 21.5 cm, edition of approximately one hundred,
unsigned and unnumbered, various collections, photograph by The Gas Company
A key aspect of mail art networks was the assumption of personas, which allowed
artists to play with their identities. Often, personas made use of humorous puns or
nonsensical and whimsical names. The members of General Idea gradually assumed
the personas AA Bronson, Jorge Zontal, and Felix Partz, in the early 1970s.
General Idea’s most elaborate and well-known mail art project was The 1971 Miss
General Idea Pageant, 1971. Sixteen artist-contestants were solicited to participate in
this satirical beauty pageant through The 1971 Miss General Idea Pageant Entry Kit,
1971. The kit—enclosed in a box marked with a silkscreened logo—contained The Miss
General Idea Gown, 1971, a brown taffeta dress to be modelled by all contestants. The
box also contained documents explaining the rules and regulations of the pageant, and
assorted ephemera conveying the history (real and invented) of the event. Thirteen
artists replied to the invitation, submitting photographs of themselves (or models) in the
gown, to be evaluated by the pageant judges.7
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