[Art] Copley, William, et al. S.M.S.: A Collection of Multiples

New York: The Letter Edged in Black Press, February-December, 1968. In six volumes. First and limited edition, one of 2,500 unnumbered copies. Near-complete set, comprised of dozens of multiples in various mixed media; lacking the Julian Levy faux pills in No. 1, the Hannah Weiner multiple in No. 3, and the Roy Lichtenstein hat in No. 4. In original artist-designed paper portfolios; each in plexiglass slip case.

Portfolio 1: No. 1, February, 1968. Artists include: Su Braden, James [Lee] Byars, Christo, Walter de Maria, Richard Hamilton, Julien Levy (lacking the faux pills), Kasper Konig, Sol Mednick, Irving Petlin (cover), Nancy Reitkopf, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. Includes prospectus and letter from the publisher.

Portfolio 2: No. 2, April, 1968. Artists included: Nicolas Calas (front label separated and laid in), Bruce Conner, Marcel Duchamp (cover, with disc), Marcia Herscovitz, Alain Jacquet, Ray Johnson, Lee Lozano, Meret Oppenheim, Bernard Pfriem, George Reavey, and Clovis Trouille.

Portfolio 3: No. 3, June, 1968. Artists included: John Battan (cover), Aftograf, William Bryant,
Dick Higgins, Joseph Kosuth, Ronnie Landfield, Roland Penrose, Man Ray, H.C.
Westerman, and Terry Riley (box and tape, with an additional copy in cassette); lacking multiple by Hannah Wiener.

Portfolio 4: No. 4, August, 1968. Artists included: Paul Bergtold, John Cage, Arman Fernandez, Hollis Frampton, On Kawara, Lil Picard, Robert Stanley (cover), Rotella, Robert Watts, Princess Winifred, and La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela (tape, with additional cassette); lacking the Roy Lichtenstein hat.

Portfolio 5: No. 5, October, 1968. Artist included: Congo (chimpanzee, cover), William
Anthony, Wall Batterton, Edward Fitzgerald, Neil Jenny, Angus MacLise, Bruce Nauman, Mel Ramos, Robert Rohm, William Schwedler, Diane Wakoski, Larry Wiener, Yoko Ono, and William Copley.

Portfolio 6: No. 6, December, 1968. Artists included: Richard Artschwager (cover), Ed Bereal, Dieter Roth, Betty Dodson, Ronaldo Ferri, Toby Mussman, Adrian Nutbeam, Claes Oldenburg, Mischa Petrow, Jean Reavey, Paul Steiner, Bernar Venet, and John Giorno.

“Each issue of S.M.S. is an artistic incident of aesthetic and intellectual importance…S.M.S. is a portable gallery of contemporary hyper-awareness.”

Born out of the neo-dada, Fluxus, and conceptual art circles of New York in the 1960’s, S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop), was a short-lived collaboration between some of the 20th century’s most innovative artists. Undertaken from the collective studio of artist William Copley, S.M.S. sought to circumvent the institutional frameworks of the gallery and museum by providing a direct artist-to-subscriber exchange and experience. Utilizing a wide variety of inventive objects and formats, including records, die-cuts, photographs, sheet music, stamps, and more, these highly inventive portfolios are at times wildly humorous and deeply subversive.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

From the Special Collections and Rare Book Collection at University of the Arts’ Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

[Art] Copley, William, et al. S.M.S.: A Collection of Multiples