General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E . K . Smith
though it evoked the military and corporations such as General Electric . Bronson
jokingly explained that it referred to the “ general idea ” of what the group did and noted that the corporate reference was “ radically politically incorrect at the time .” The name also helped to obscure discrete identities within the group , challenging the myth of the individual artist as genius .
Noting the casual nature of the group , Bronson later explained , “ We were just a group of people having a good time .… We went everywhere together , parties , we always
23 showed up together .” They presented themselves theatrically : they would take special
care to stage their entrance to events , arriving at gallery receptions with an entourage .
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Establishing a Tripartite Identity During the early 1970s , Ronald Gabe , Slobodan Saia-Levy , and Michael Tims assumed pseudonyms . This was a popular practice for artists involved in mail art networks . Initially , Gabe used the names Felicks Partz and Private Partz , before settling on the
25 cheeky name Felix Partz . Saia-Levy ’ s name , Jorge Zontal ( pronounced “ Hori-zontal ”),
came from a song on an old record . Tims ’ s AA Bronson derived from a pen name created by the publisher of Bronson ’ s pornographic book , Lena , a novel he had written in
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collaboration with Susan Harrison . Tims ’ s pseudonym was A . L . Bronson , but friends misremembered it as A . A . Bronson ( the punctuation was later dropped ).
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General Idea , Inside / Outside General Idea Headquarters , Toronto ( detail from the installation Light On ), 1971 , one of three chromogenic prints on Masonite , overall 20.3 x 76.2 cm , Collection General Idea . This photograph depicts the General Idea headquarters above the Mi-House restaurant at 87 Yonge Street , Toronto , c . 1971
General Idea and friends on the roof of 87 Yonge Street , Toronto , where they lived and worked , c . 1971 – 73 , Collection General Idea , photograph by Elke Town . From left , front row : AA Bronson , Randy Gledhill , Daniel Freedman ; back row : Granada Gazelle , Jorge Zontal , Felix Partz
In 1970 General Idea moved to 87 Yonge Street , to a loft located above the Mi- House restaurant in the heart of Toronto ’ s Financial District . The membership of General Idea in the early 1970s was intentionally amorphous . Partz noted that in the early days , “ We purposely obscured actually , who General Idea was , because we were involved with working and living with a variety of people .… Everybody was seen as
General Idea .”
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