Soccochico is delighted to present its second catalogue, featuring 27 items that explore the influential legacies of Coum Transmissions. Ranging from original handmade collage, letters, photographs and exhibition posters to rare ephemera, this collection not only underscores the radical creativity and cultural impact of these pioneering figures but also offers rare glimpses into their avant-garde practices and artistic networks.
The catalogue highlights key events and developments from 1974 to 1978, providing a comprehensive overview of significant moments within this four-year span. Among the notable pieces are the ‘Édition de tête’, ‘G.P.O. v[ersus]. G.P-O. / Mail Action. A Chronicle of Mail Art on Trial compiled by Genesis P-Orridge and COUM’, featuring an original collage by P-Orridge, never in circulation before (item no.8), a gelatin silver print of Cosey Fanni Tutti in ‘Woman’s Roll’, A.I.R. Gallery, London (item no.10), an announcement card for the performance ‘Cease to Exist no.1’, held at Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago (IL) and the performances ‘Cease to Exist no.2 & no.3’ held at NAME Gallery, Chicago (IL) (item no.11), a signed letter with a drawing from Genesis P-Orridge to Jean Sellem (item no.13), along with a variety of other unique and hard-to-find materials.
The items are arranged in chronological order.
“Everything about COUM is true, Everything about COUM is false. Everything about COUM is nothing. It is by omission that we might be exact.”
COUM Transmissions was a radical music and performance collective active in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1978. Drawing inspiration from the Surrealist and Dada movements, COUM—an acronym for Cosmic Organicism of the Universal Molecular—thrived on provocation, subversion, and transgression. Deliberately challenging the conventions of British society and always operating at the very limits of what was respectable and legally actionable, their work aimed to unsettle, and subvert, redefining the limits of art, politics, and personal identity in radical ways.
Founded in Hull, Yorkshire, by Genesis P-Orridge, COUM Transmissions initially included Cosey Fanni Tutti and Spydeee Gasmantell—one of P-Orridge’s classmates—and others. Pronounced ‘coom’ or ‘come, the group lived in communes and performed spontaneous chaotic sets in various venues including clubs, pubs, and the streets of Hull. Through their extensive Mail Art activities—exchanging collages of provocative (and illegal) images, and text-based works via postal networks—COUM bypassed institutional barriers. This underground circulation fostered a network of radical artists and thinkers and engaged them in an ongoing communication that created a real community.
In 1975, COUM gained institutional recognition when they represented the UK at the 9th Paris Biennale. With the support of the British Council, they presented the performance ‘Jusqu’à la balle crystal’. It was of course followed by their most notorious engagement when in 1976 when P-Orridge and Fanni Tutti staged ‘Prostitution’ at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. The exhibition—an incendiary assemblage of explicit photographs, used sanitary products, rusted blades, syringes, press clippings, and performance documentation from Milan and Paris—ignited a media firestorm. Outraged politicians and tabloids condemned COUM, with Conservative MP Nicholas Fairbairn famously branding them the “Wreckers of Western civilization.” Paradoxically, the controversy fueled the ICA’s popularity, with membership numbers surging in the aftermath.
In 1976 COUM’s final performance gave birth to Throbbing Gristle. In the same year, Chris Carter joined the group and played a key role in the formation of the pioneering industrial band. The band is often credited with founding the industrial music genre. The term itself was coined in the mid-1970s with the creation of Industrial Records by P-Orridge and Monte Cazazza. On Throbbing Gristle’s debut album ‘The Second Annual Report’, they introduced the slogan “industrial music for industrial people.”
After the group disbanded in 1981, members Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, and Chris Carter formed their own projects—super seminal bands such as Psychic TV, Coil, and Chris & Cosey. P-Orridge announced a departure from performance art, while Fanni Tutti, in contrast, felt she was only beginning. Their legacy has endured—COUM had not merely performed art; they had detonated it, sending shockwaves through avant-garde music and art that still reverberate today.