S.M.S. #6 (Deluxe Edition)

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. 6, 1968
Cover by Richard Artschwager (American, 1923–2013)
Ed Bereal (American, b. 1937), Self Portrait
Dieter Rot (Swiss, b. Germany, 1930–1998) Chocolate Bar
Betty Dodson (American, 1929–2020), Friends
Ronaldo Ferri (American, 1932–2019), Neon Construction
Toby Mussman (American, b. 1940), Ten Xerox Sheets
Adrian Nutbeam (British, b. 1946), Twenty Down
Claes Oldenburg (American, 1929–2022), Unattended Lunches
Mischa Petrov (Russian, b. 1927), Junior Historical Theatre Playroom Kit
Jean Reavey (British, 1917–1987), Adora
Paul Steiner (American, 20th century), Johns in Art Galleries
Bernar Venet (French, b. 1941), Astrophysics
John Giorno (American, b. 1936), Chinese Fortune Game