This collection of multiples was published in 1968 by The Letter Edged in Black Press. 1968 was a year of considerable political unrest and creative ferment in both North America and Europe. The SMS studio was established in New York by American surrealist artist William Copley and attracted many important artists to contribute to its publishing projects. Boundaries between disciplines and media were removed so that poetry, sculpture, printmaking and performance, for example, were considered equally important. All contributors received a flat rate of $100 for their work and the portfolios were mailed directly to subscribers, bypassing the hierarchy of art museums and dealer galleries. As American writer Carter Ratcliff has stated:

Art usually appears in spaces set aside from ordinary life by the aura of galleries and museums, and art history is somehow separate from our larger history. But SMS’s Utopian impulses overcame that separation. Sending art into the world through the mail, it immersed art in the contents of real time.

Participating artists

SMS1 February 1968: Irving Petlin; Su Braden; James Lee Byars; Christo; Walter de Maria; Richard Hamilton; Kaspar Koening; Julien Levy; Sol Mednick: Nancy Reitkopf; La Monte Young; and Marian Zazeela.

SMS2 April 1968: Marcel Duchamp; Nicolas Calas; Bruce Conner; Marcia Herscovitz; Alain Jacquet; Ray Johnson; Lee Lozano; Meret Oppenheim; Bernard Pfreim; George Reavey; and Clovis Trouille.

SMS3 June 1968: John Battan; Aftograf; Enrico Baj; William Bryant; Dick Higgins; Joseph Kosuth; Ronnie Landfield; Roland Penrose; Man Ray; HC Westermann; Hannah Weiner; and Terry Riley.

SMS4 August 1968: Robert Stanley; Arman; Paul Bergtold; John Cage; Hollis Frampton; On Kawara; Roy Lichtenstein; Lil Picard; Domenico Rotella; Robert Watts; Princess Winifred; La Monte Young; and Marian Zazeela.

SMS5 October 1968: Congo; William Anthony; Wall Batterton; William Copley; Edward Fitzgerald; Neil Jenny; Angus MacLise; Bruce Nauman; Yoko Ono; Mel Ramos; Robert Rohm; William Schwedler; Diane Wakoski; and Lawrence Weiner.

SMS6 December 1968: Richard Artschwager; Ed Bereal; Diter Rot; Betty Dodson; Ronoldo Ferri; John Giorno; Toby Mussman; Adrian Nutbeem; Claes Oldenburg; Mischa Petrov; Jean Reavey; and Bernar Venet.