Test Tube
Artist/Maker
General Idea (A. A. Bronson, Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal)
(Canadian, 1969–1994)
Date1980
MediumColor lithograph
DimensionsImage: 19 15/16 × 14 1/2 in. (50.6 × 36.8 cm)
Sheet: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)
Sheet: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)
Credit LineSpecial Acquisitions Fund
Edition20/96
Object number1984.17
Status
On viewArtists A.A. Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal worked together for 25 years under the moniker General Idea. They addressed consumerism, the manipulative power of the media, the commodification of art, and AIDS—which claimed the lives of Partz and Zontal. This photo is a still from their 1979 video, Test Tube, featuring guests of the Colour Bar Lounge in the Miss General Idea Pavilion—a fictional setting referenced in much of the group’s work. The video, commissioned by a Dutch museum for television broadcast, appropriated formats, including a talk show, a soap opera, and advertisements.
Exhibition History
Queering the Museum
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 15, 2004 - June 6, 2004 )
The Body, The Host: HIV / AIDS and Christianity
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 20, 2024 - December 15, 2024 )
Collections
- Modern & Contemporary
- On View
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1972
1983
2001
2013