God is My Gigolo (1969)

The Canadian artists group General Ideas first and only film work God is my Gigolo 1969 was shot in black and white on 16mm film without sound and was never completed The work can be seen as a link between the underground cinema of the 1960s and 70s and the video art of today It was shot in the neighborhood around the old house in Toronto where the General Idea group lived together and organized its first exhibitions and on Wards Island a small island in Torontos harbor A drawing by Jorge Zontal of the set related in formal terms to Manets Déjeuner sur lherbe The films central narrative outlined in a handwritten script by Zontalthe original was also featured in the exhibition along with film stills and a drawing of the setinvolves a giant toy penis discarded by a vagrant and then circulated among various protagonists until it finally washes up on a beach on Toronto Island where it is discovered by a group of natives