General Idea @Stedelijk

_highlights

★ index cards

"index cards" by general idea, 1969

1969
ideas for projects and actions
>200 cards created; divided into different series - event series, act/action, etc.
building blocks of the identity of the group
their cards played the role of prompts for projects [reference to Fluxus group] + they were also doing mail art

★ gold diggers of '84

1977
"their shameless and most ambitious" mail-art project
they created card and claimed it is a piece of work + added a certificate of ownership in the envelope
sent to individuals, but also institutions - such as museums and big galleries - "in the collection of..."

_about

Stedelijk:

General Idea is a groundbreaking Canadian artist group that in the 70’s and 80’s was renowned for their satirical approach to the deconstruction of the media and the art world. The exhibition is the largest-­ever survey of their oeuvre, comprised of large sculptures and installations, paintings, videos and publications, archival material – and their signature wallpapers.
General Idea consisted of Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson and came to an end in 1994, with the untimely deaths of Partz and Zontal of AIDS. General Idea critiqued popular media and the art world through witty and visually arresting artworks. General Idea took on mass media, consumer culture, queer identity, the art economy, social inequality, and the AIDS epidemic with their unique brand of ‘serious humor’: a subversive and absurdist approach to language and imagery, always with an earnest intent.  General Idea can be seen as pioneers of ‘creative activism’; their practice of inserting their artwork directly into the public sphere, as they did with their AIDS posters, laid the groundwork for conceptually­ driven activist engagement for a new generation of artists.

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