Pavillion Poodle Fragment #32
Artist
General Idea
(Canadian, 1969 - 1994)
Date1984
Mediumstyrofoam, plaster, mixed media
Dimensions3 × 46 cm
Credit LineThe Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Gift of Sandra L. Simpson 1993.
Object number1993.26.5
Classificationssculpture
On View
Not on viewGeneral Idea is known for their activism and their incisive appropriation of popular culture and media as a means of social critique. The early years of their activity featured a beauty-pageant figure named Miss General Idea. Miss General Idea Pageants were elaborate multimedia and performance events, often held in commercial spaces like shopping malls and clubs. Of the pageant, Partz explained, “It was our examination of the existing art world … a questioning of the process by which masterpieces are created … validated … selected and worshipped.”
Their social interventions, publishing activity and production of FILE Magazine all creatively hijacked popular media channels to raise awareness about gay rights and the AIDS crisis. Continuing the use of a performance persona, the group’s work evolved to take on the role of “fictional archeologists”. This move was tied to the destruction of the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion, which they reported had been engulfed in flames. In subsequent exhibitions, General Idea presented the alleged ephemera, ruins and artifacts from the Pavillion.
Their social interventions, publishing activity and production of FILE Magazine all creatively hijacked popular media channels to raise awareness about gay rights and the AIDS crisis. Continuing the use of a performance persona, the group’s work evolved to take on the role of “fictional archeologists”. This move was tied to the destruction of the 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion, which they reported had been engulfed in flames. In subsequent exhibitions, General Idea presented the alleged ephemera, ruins and artifacts from the Pavillion.
