COUM Transmissions
COUM Transmissions was a British performance art and music collective formed in 1969 in Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, with Cosey Fanni Tutti as a core member. Its actions mixed music, mail art and confrontational performance, and the group is best known as the precursor of Throbbing Gristle. COUM Transmissions moved its base to London in 1973 and performed in Edinburgh, Rottweil and Amsterdam. Peter Christopherson joined later. In 1976 the Prostitution exhibition at the ICA in London caused a press and parliamentary scandal.
Members
Wreckers of Civilisation (book)
Very rare first and only 1999 edition on Black Dog Publishing of the definitive book on COUM & Throbbing Gristle, fully illustrated thoughout. Includes Mute oversize card.
Wreckers of Civilisation (card)
Very rare 1999 postcard, reproducing COUM Transmission's “Prostitution” press release, announcing the forthcoming publication of the “Wreckers of Civilisation” book for Black Dog Publishing.
Prostitution (Sexual Transgressions No 5) (card)
Very rare original invition card to the opening party for COUM’s Prostitution retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, October 18th, 1976.
Prostitution artwork (ephemera)
Amazing set of documents related to the in-famous 1976 pre-TG exhibition, including an 'original' stamped photographic artwork displayed there, plus 5 xeroxed (at the time) pages of newspapers cuttings and of a letter by P-Orridge, all related to the exhibition.
Another Evening at Logos 1974/79/81
Previously-unreleased recordings from live sessions at the Logos Foundation, Ghent, Belgium, recorded in 1974, 1979, and 1981. This double LP, the first release in a vinyl-only series, includes the following recordings: a 1979 performance by Max Eastley and Logos Ensemble (Max Eastley, Godfried-Willem Raes, Moniek Darge, and Rob Keymeulen playing xylophone bars, Aeolian flutes, springboard, sanzas); a 1974 performance by Feminist Improvising Group (Georgie Born: cello, bass guitar; Lindsay Coope…
Music for stocking top, swing and staircase
'Music for Stocking Top, Swing and Staircase' is a spellbinding archival discovery documenting a performance by one of the missing links in experimental electronic and prototypical industrial music. John Lacey is one of the background players in British electronic music and conceptual performance art. He was an early collaborator with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti and a crucial member of COUM Transmissions alongside Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P-Orridge. Lacey contributed technical directio…
Home Aged & The 18 Month Hope
The most recent installment of the rare & unheard archival recordings from the transgressive 70′s performance art group COUM Transmissions. Founded in late 1969 by Genesis P-Orridge, COUM Transmissions’s provocative performances mixed with visual art solidified the group as one of the most forward thinking breakthroughs within the 70′s conceptual art scene. Between 1969 and 1976, with a rotating membership including John Shapiro, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Spydeee Gasmantell, COUM Transmissions …
G.P.O. versus G.P-O: A chronicle of mail art on trial
G.P.O. versus G.P-O: A chronicle of mail art on trial is a publication of Genesis P-Orridge’s collection of materials surrounding Great Britain’s General Post Office’s case against him for disseminating pornographic material through the mail in 1975. These postcards incorporated confrontational images with images of the Queen. When the Post Office made their case against P-Orridge, it became an opportunity to turn the case into another performance. G.P.O. versus G.P-O collects ephemera, legal do…
Sugarmorphoses
Made in 1974 by P.Orridge in COUM’s Hull commune/headquarters, The Ho Ho Funhouse, it’s comprised of scratchy recordings of the young actionist improvising on piano and messing around on reel-to-reel with years of accumulated field recordings and homework dictations (This recording consists of Genesis's candid kitchen recordings of solo broken piano improvisations accompanied by P-Orridge's own reel to reel experiments using old tape dating back to 1965, from which a young Neil Megson made co…
