Various Artists (contributors to issue #2 include Nicolas Calas, Bruce Conner, Marcel Duchamp, Marcia Herscovitz, Alain Jacquet, Ray Johnson, Lee Lozano, Meret Oppenheim, Bernard Pfriem, George Reavey, and Clovis Trouille)
published by William N. Copley
S.M.S. #2 (Deluxe Edition)
INV-2451
Various Artists (contributors to issue #2 include Nicolas Calas, Bruce Conner, Marcel Duchamp, Marcia Herscovitz, Alain Jacquet, Ray Johnson, Lee Lozano, Meret Oppenheim, Bernard Pfriem, George Reavey, and Clovis Trouille)
published by William N. CopleyNew York: Letter Edged in Black Press, April 1968
photographphotography
Date
New York: Letter Edged in Black Press, April 1968
Medium
Mixed media
Dimensions
Installation dimensions variable
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by Jennifer Levine and Jeff Aeder
The Letter Edged in Black Press produced six issues of a journal called SMS (Shit Must Stop) from February to December 1968. Founded by artists William N. Copley and Dmitri Petrov, the journal was not bound like a traditional magazine but rather took the form of a folder containing individual contributions from more than 70 artists. Each issue of the journal featured items of varying media and formats, including prints, diminutive multimedia works, and sculptures produced in small editions. Employing the postal system as an alternative exhibition format, the series expresses the artists’ desire to share their ideas in novel, frugal, and accessible ways—a playful jab at the restrictive criteria of museums and “high art.”
The Art Institute’s complete set is one of 100 copies of the deluxe version, in which nearly every contribution is signed by its creator. The issues feature pieces by well-known artists like Marcel Duchamp, Ray Johnson, On Kawara, Yoko Ono, Roy Lichtenstein, and Lil Picard, as well as a multitude of unusual, interactive objects including audio recordings, a booklet about bathrooms in art galleries, a folded hat, luggage stickers, a phenakistoscope with instructions for use, and poetry. An unreleased special seventh edition was in the works, with an intended contribution from Dorothy Iannone, now also part of the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection.
SMS (Shit Must Stop) , no. 2, 1968
Cover designed by Marcel Duchamp (American, born France, 1887–1968) with instructions “Remove To Play”
Nicolas Calas (American, born Switzerland, 1907–1988), Cynocephaeus & Co.
Bruce Conner (American, 1933–2008), Legal Tender
Marcia Herscovitz (American, 1945–1976), Ten Collages
Alain Jacquet (French, b. 1939), Three Color Separation
Ray Johnson (American, 1927–1995), A 2-Year Old Girl Choked to Death Today on an Easter Egg
Lee Lozano (American, 1930–1999), Thesis (1960)
Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, born Germany, 1902–1985), The Mirror of Genoveva
Bernard Pfriem (American, b. 1916), A Proposed Comic Section for The New York Times
George Reavey (Irish, born Russia, 1907–1976), Farewell to Faust
Clovis Trouille (French, 1889–1975), Album
Also notable
Works in the same vein
