Almost a month has passed since I last visited the AGO with a good friend of mine, upon our visit we were surprised by the exhibit showcased that night. We were clueless and had no idea that the exhibition called the General Idea was in display. Now, you’re probably wondering why in the world would this matter?

Well, I’ll let you in a big revelation…

These group of artists “Challenged social power structures and traditional modes of artistic creation in ever-shifting ways…these artists were first to stand up against Fascist and toxic nature of TV Culture.” (Words of Frédéric Bonnet, Curator)

They collaborated their radical ideas with provocative imagery and various shocking concepts; ranging from ephemera, mail art to TV programs.

Walking across the peculiar yet captivating pieces of art work, I was mesmerized by the audacity of it all. One of my favourite pieces is the

Test Pattern, the T.V. Dinner plates from the Miss General Idea Pavillion (1988):

Although, the simplicity of it eludes the eye there is a hidden meaning deep within this artwork. It exposes the Mise en abyme (Endless repetition) of the test pattern transcending a hypnotic feel to it. “Viewers immersed alienating nature of mass culture and media’s appetite for spectacular vacuous.”

Mind you, I hadn’t thought of the test pattern in that sense; I was shocked to realize the truth and it lead me to conclude that these artists were valiant enough to take a stance upon a generation so submerged into a consumerist reality.

“The current reality wasn’t sufficient for us we had to create our own world which was a kind of parody, an imperfect simulacrum of a perfect world.” (Artists: Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson, 1969).

These artists were willing to transform the image of meaning with a new and improved significance of life. “The general idea seeps into society’s pores as if by osmosis, clearing the way for an alternative version of reality.” In the end a message was projected for us to empty our minds from the meaninglessness of television in the form of a tremendous political artwork.

Now I call that Genius!

wowfunniestposts:

(Source: youwatson)

In reference to Bob Marley’s lyrics “Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be all right”, from his notorious song “Three Little Birds”. It seems to me that this is not the case; with an overload of assignments, finals, midterms and exams…most students nowadays would rather procrastinate than worry about these university exams. Indeed, with the internet viable to our reach we tend to be distracted amongst other things. We find ourselves studying and reading several pages online for review. However, with so many distractions you tend to search websites and ongoing clicking of links saying to yourself Just one more click and I’ll get back to work. You, set a time limit in surfing the net, but I don’t know about you but this doesn’t work for me…

Although, whilst surfing the net in the midst of studying; I came across a documentary film about how our generation is overly protected by our parents, that leads us to be ill-equipped for the world of work. “As the first batch of hyper-parented kids-Generation Y emerges into adulthood, they do not seem to be quite ready for the real world. University psychologists report today’s students experience higher levels of anxiety than any generation before them.” (Hyper Parents & Coddled Kids- Doc Zone CBC Documentary) 

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/2010/hyperparents/

I find that most students nowadays tend to rely on their parents for everything…as a first year university student you are expected to have a job and balance school work simultaneously. In this generation this is unattainable in most cases. Personally, I have reached the age of adulthood, at a tender age of 18 my parents always ask me why I have not found a job yet and why is my focus only in my studies?

I ask myself why?

In this day and age, high rank of social status with a high average is imperative to survive in this society. We concentrate more on school as we know without a strong foundation from a high education level will not lead us to our dream job. That is why we focus on theory rather than practice, which is the result of high student debt that is greater than before.

Well, its time to sign off now; I have yet to study copious information on modern democracy and various forms of dictatorship, brain please be good to me, there are endless International Relations theories and historical dates to remember.

Signing off (10mins later I find myself on tumblr yet again)

Sigh…the Life of a student in the 21^st century