The artist book was produced in 1973 to accompany General Idea’s Venetian blind window-covering installation Luxon V.B. (1973-74). Made of 168 moveable double-sided mirror slats it allowed the inside of the gallery to be reflected outside and the outside reflected inside. Luxon V.B. was the first “prototype” for The 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion, a decentralized museum (originally conceived in 1971), which ultimately consisted of various installations in museum collections around the world, collectively forming their own independent museum structure unrelated to the museums that would house them. The booklet sets out the manifesto, “we address ourselves to that exact and exacting space marked by glamour: the interface between one content and context, culture and nature inside and out. Once again utilizing a mirror device, in Venetian Blind format, we isolate a thin slice of unclaimed space between the gallery and the outside world and fill it with white light. This space, unseen, is yet precisely known by each of us. General Idea claims this space.”

General Idea (1969-1994)

AA Bronson, Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal lived and worked together as General Idea from 1969 through to the deaths of Jorge and Felix in 1994. They addressed themes such as the mass media, popular culture, and the art world itself, pioneering the use of media that bypassed the normal gallery system, such as FILE Megazine, their made-for-television videos, and performance as social space. From 1969 to 1987 their work focused on the construction and deconstruction of the mythical The 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion; from 1987 through 1994 their work turned to the theme of AIDS, in their gallery work, editions and temporary public art projects.

General Idea exhibited internationally in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia. In 1979, they presented their first museum exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Major retrospectives toured Europe and North America in 1984-85, 1992-93, 2011-12. General Idea was included in the Venice, Paris, Sydney and Sao Paulo biennales, and Documenta (1982).