The Vassar College Art Library Presents: “S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop) – 1968.”
At the height of the global political and social upheavals of the 1960’s, the American surrealist painter and art dealer William Copley published an unusual periodical entitled S.M.S., which informally stood for “Shit Must Stop.” Inspired by Dada and the anti-commercial, merged-media ethos of the Fluxus movement, the publication consisted of a series of six 7 x 11-inch cardboard portfolios published bimonthly between February and December of 1968. Each portfolio contained seven to fourteen multiples by different artists, and included works of widely divergent materials and techniques, from constructions and printed matter to photographs, prints, drawings, and sound recordings.
Includes multiples by Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg, Man Ray, Christo, Roy Lichtenstein, Merit Oppenheim, John Cage, Richard Artschwager, Walter De Maria, Ray Johnson, Richard Hamilton, Dieter Rot, Yoko Ono, and many others.
On view for the remainder of Fall Semester 2020, in the Art Library Main Reading Room.
Materials courtesy Archives and Special Collections, Vassar College Libraries.
S.M.S Issue Number 6 1968. Limited Edition Multimedia Art Magazine. 11 x 7 inches (Closed)
Roy Lichtenstein, “Folded Hat” 1968. Ink on folded Mylar. 7 1/4 x 14 inches
Yoko Ono, “Mend Piece for John” 1968. Cardboard, paper, plastic bag, ribbon, glue and broken tea cup.
