Produced by De Appel, Amsterdam, while General Idea was in residence there, Test Tube was conceived as a program for television. Presented under the brand "The Color Bar Lounge," a cocktail bar in the mythical 1984 Miss General Idea Pavilion, the program is a hybrid of popular television formats...
The Canadian artists’ group General Idea’s first and only film work, God is my Gigolo (1969), was shot in black and white on 16mm film without sound and was never completed. The work can be seen as a link between the underground cinema of the 1960s and 70s and the video art of today. It was...
Using ironic and iconic excerpts from television and film from the 1960s, such as The Joker character from Batman and part of the historic footage of artist Yves Klein's painting and performance from Mondo Cane, General Idea examine the relationship between the mass media and the artist.
This performance was held on June 19, 1974 at The Western Front, an artist-run centre in Vancouver. It was the first of General Idea’s five “audience rehearsals.” In these performances, the artists instructed their spectators when and how to gasp, laugh, and applaud, ensuring “appropriate...
Hands Across The Border was a seven city slow scan collaboration. With participation from Paul Wong, Sharon Levett & Daryl Lacey, Video Inn, Vancouver;Randall Lyon & Gus Nelson, Televista Projects, Memphis; Sharon Grace, Video Free America, Berkeley Art Museum, U.C.; Peggy Cady, Bill Bartlett, Chas...
Produced for public television broadcast in Ontario, Pilot takes the form of a prime-time newsmagazine, with General Idea as the subject. As hosts, AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal describe their collective transformation from young strivers to "famous, glamorous artists," and the...
"GENERAL IDEA: Art, AIDS and the fin de siècle is a humorous, informative and ultimately poignant documentary about General Idea. Formed in 1969, they produced art that targeted and mimicked media, consumerism and celebrity, creating a revolutionary new spirit of art making. Interviews with AA...
