Villa dei Misteri
After General Idea’s fictional Pavilion dramatically burned to the ground in 1977, nothing remained but some “hastily rescued artifacts.” These mysterious remnants determined the next period in the group’s practice. If, in the 1970s, General Idea assumed the role of architects, in the 1980s they became archeologists. Resolutely post modern, these relics look fake – pastel poodles clearly do not belong on ancient fragments. Pretending to unearth works of art, General Idea were making forgeries.
Following the group’s first solo exhibition at the Stedelijk in Amsterdam in 1979, their attention turned to even more acutely to the museum’s role in the art world. These objects anticipated their own research and display by institutions. Crescent moons, cornucopias or horns of plenty, poodles, cocktail glasses, veils, ziggurats and skulls all appear as remnants of a complex society, alluding to rituals now lost.
Villa dei Misteri
After General Idea’s fictional Pavilion dramatically burned to the ground in 1977, nothing remained but some “hastily rescued artifacts.” These mysterious remnants determined the next period in the group’s practice. If, in the 1970s, General Idea assumed the role of architects, in the 1980s they became archeologists. Resolutely post modern, these relics look fake – pastel poodles clearly do not belong on ancient fragments. Pretending to unearth works of art, General Idea were making forgeries.
Following the group’s first solo exhibition at the Stedelijk in Amsterdam in 1979, their attention turned to even more acutely to the museum’s role in the art world. These objects anticipated their own research and display by institutions. Crescent moons, cornucopias or horns of plenty, poodles, cocktail glasses, veils, ziggurats and skulls all appear as remnants of a complex society, alluding to rituals now lost.