Blocking (1974)

Overview

This performance was held on June 19, 1974 at The Western Front, an artist-run centre in Vancouver. It was the first of General Idea’s five “audience rehearsals.” In these performances, the artists instructed their spectators when and how to gasp, laugh, and applaud, ensuring “appropriate mass reactions” for The 1984 Miss General Idea Pageant: a performance in the form of a beauty pageant, complete with contestants, judges, and a winner. Blocking was staged as a television broadcast, revealing the importance of the documentation, circulation, and preservation of General Idea’s work.