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The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the
The collection was processed and the finding aid prepared by Hilary Price and Caroline Donadio in 2016. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2020 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone papers, circa 1860-2011, bulk 1940-2011. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection is arranged as nine series
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone (1931-2011) was a documentary photographer, musical composer, and conceptual artist who worked in New York City.
Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone was named Cosime Sarchiapone at birth, and was also known as Cosmos, Cosmos Savage, and Richard Savage. His parents, Lois and Aldo, had seven children, including twins Cosmos and Damian. Born in Manhattan, Cosmos graduated from the La Guardia High School of Music and Art in New York City in 1948 and from Syracuse University in 1958 with a concentration in music composition and studio art. After college, he studied musical composition with John Cage at the New School in 1961, art history with Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University from 1963-1965, illustration with Marvin Israel from 1966-1971, design with Milton Glaser from 1968-1973, and photography with Diane Arbus from 1970-1971. He taught photography at the School of Visual Arts from 1974-1976, and at Parsons School of Design in 1980. In the early 1970s, he led experimental theater workshops at Columbia-Barnard University.
Between 1968-1969, Cosmos worked with Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast at their Push Pin Studios, a graphic design and illustration studio.
Sometime between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Cosmos began photographing New York City, capturing the art and theater worlds, the people and streets, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. As a freelance photographer for
Throughout the 1970s, Cosmos documented the avant-garde art scene in New York City. He captured performances at The Kitchen and La Mama, the offices of
According to Milton Glaser, "Cosmos was a brilliant photographer who was never without a camera….He was always everywhere. In terms of documentation of that period, there was no one like him."
Cosmos often incorporated aspects of his photography into conceptual art pieces, including two serial works that Cosmos made from fragments of Diane Arbus' discarded photographs, transforming her iconic work. Many of Cosmos's conceptual art pieces often took the form of a series, and were continuously revisited. In
Cosmos created scores for plays and dance performances, including
Cosmos lived at Westbeth Artists' Community from 1970-2011, but had largely withdrawn from the world by the 2000s. Cosmos Sarchiapone died in 2011.
The papers of New York City photographer, conceptual artist, and musical composer Cosmos Sarchiapone measure 49.2 linear feet and 0.367 GB and date from circa 1860-2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940-2011. The collection includes biographical material and personal business records; correspondence; extensive writings, including written and recorded music compositions; teaching files; printed material and published sound and video recordings; photographic material; artwork; artifacts; and unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material. Highlights of the collection are more than 40,000 photographic images documenting New York's avant-garde art scene of the 1970s, along with celebrity parties, concerts, exhibition openings and other occasions in the art, music, and theater world. Extensive and somewhat rare printed materials offer users a visual chronical of the downtown art world in the form of posters from the 1970s, including a number of Milton Glaser's, and hundreds of exhibition announcements, theater programs, and playbills.
Biographical material and personal business records include address books, calendars, legal paperwork, life documents, resumes, and other material. Correspondence is both personal and professional in nature. Personal correspondence is between Cosmos and friends, family, and pen pals. Professional correspondence is with curators, publishers, and estates and mostly concerns Cosmos's artwork, photographs, or objects he lent for exhibition or publication.
Writings include general writings and notes, including a book layout for a book never realized; fifteen notebooks containing Cosmos's writings about projects, dreams, and miscellany; music compositions in both written form and on sound recordings; and scattered writings by others, including manuscripts and theater scripts.
Teaching files document photography courses taught by Cosmos at the School of Visual Arts in 1974-1976, and the Parsons School of Design in 1980.
Printed materials and commercially published sound and video recordings in the collection are extensive and reflect Cosmos's unique interests and inspirations, and his tendency to save and collect material discarded or rejected by others. There are books and periodicals featuring Cosmos's work, annotated by Cosmos, or of special significance to Cosmos. There is also a list of books in Cosmos's library. Some of the periodicals concern Push Pin Studios and Milton Glaser. There is a large group of ephemera, such as announcements, catalogs, press releases, programs, playbills, posters, and assorted items covering several decades of New York exhibitions, events, concerts, and performances. There are posters for exhibitions, events, performances, film screenings, and concerts. Some of the clippings and other ephemera may have been removed from scrapbooks or other compilations, and some remain collated and mounted on mat board. Some of the printed materials may have been used by Cosmos as source materials.
Photographic material makes up a significant portion of the collection (14.5 linear feet), and illustrates the breadth of Cosmos's documentation of New York City, capturing the avant-garde art and theater worlds, the people and streets, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. There are images of named people and people at parties, of exhibitions and performances, of New York City streets and buildings, of a more personal and family nature, of artwork, and of miscellaneous subjects. There are also collected photographs, some of which are vintage. There is a large group of unidentified and unsorted negatives, slides, and contact sheets. Where they existed, labeling and descriptive notes have been preserved with the unidentified materials.
Artwork is also quite extensive (10.5 linear feet) and found in a variety of genre, format, and media. There is also a small subseries of artwork by others. One group of artwork consists of titled or named art projects and series, often executed in the form of series that spanned decades. This group includes Cosmos's
A group of artwork identified as "compilations" consist primarily of photocopies of compiled presentations of documents, photographs, fragments, writings, drawings, printed materials and ephemera, and bits and pieces of Cosmos's titled work. These compilations were prepared by Cosmos for individuals in the art world to whom he was close. The original compilations were then photocopied and presented to the intended receiver. The subseries of compilations contains both originals and photocopied versions that do not always correlate with one another. Also found among the artwork are drawings, illustrations, a few paintings, collages, and sketchbooks by Cosmos. Artwork by others includes an artist book, drawings, a sketchbook, and prints by Milton Glaser, Alex Hay, Douglas Huebler, Marvin Israel, Ray Johnson, Ellsworth Kelly, and Eve Sonneman.
Found within the collection are three dimensional artifacts, including eight cameras and other items Cosmos saved and collected to incorporate into his photographs.
There is a large series of unpublished sound recordings and born-digital material, some of which is clearly identified and labeled, and some of which is unidentified. When known, labeling has been incorporated into the folder titles in the container inventory. Users should note that sound recordings that were clearly identified and associated with other projects were arranged in context with those related materials.
Printed material (series 5), photographic material (series 6), and artwork (series 7), include many photocopies. Cosmos used the photocopy process to make copies of his work to share with others, and as a creative form of art in itself, experimenting with tonality, collage, and the degeneration of images from repeated copying. Photocopies were also made of articles, newspapers, and various source material and ephemera that he collected. Many photocopies have descriptive labeling on the back. For some photographs and projects, photocopies are the only form of documentation located in the collection.
Donated to the Archives of American Art in 2015 by Tom Sarchiapone, Cosmos Sarchiapone's brother, via Catherine Morris, curator and friend of Cosmos.
Biographical material and scattered personal business records include a card index of and loose addresses; calendars; canceled checks; Lois Sarchiapone's notes and loose scrapbook pages; high school performance programs and photocopied yearbook pages; Westbeth housing documents; identification cards and name tags, some of which are photocopies; legal paperwork including a civil lawsuit Cosmos filed against
Oversized material housed in OV 49
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 1
Correspondence is both personal and professional in nature. Personal correspondence is between Cosmos and friends, family, and pen pals. Items include postcards, holiday cards, greeting cards, and a few exhibition announcements. Professional correspondence relates to Cosmos's artwork, photographs, or objects he had lent for exhibition or publication. Notable correspondents include Milton Glaser, Tom O'Horgan, curators Elisabeth Sussman and Catherine Morris, art director at the
Writings date from circa 1947-2000s and include general writings and notes, fifteen notebooks, music compositions, and writings by others. Music compositions by Cosmos and others are found in both written format and recorded on thirty-six sound tape reels. Additional writings and lectures are also found in the Art Projects Series.
The series is arranged as 4 subseries
General writings and notes include applications, autobiographical essays, a book layout, recorded dreams, essays, a list, lecture notes, and various scattered notes. The notes are largely unorganized and relate to art projects, coursework, and art materials and techniques; some are illustrated with diagrams and sketches. The book layout found here is a diagram on eight large pages outlining Cosmos's art projects and photographs to be presented as a single publication. No such publication was realized.
Oversized material housed in OV 50
Fifteen notebooks contain writings about projects, dreams, and miscellany. Several notebooks from circa 1976-1977 contain writings related to Cosmos's opera
Musical compositions arranged here were primarily written by Cosmos, although there are a few scattered unidentified printed and hand written sheet music compositions written by others. The compositions are found in script, notebooks, and 36 sound tape reels.
Cosmos's music compositions are both independent works and scores produced for dance and theater performances, including many Off-Off Broadway productions. Descriptive labeling on the 36 sound recordings match the names of productions for which Cosmos wrote scores (users, please note that content has not been verified.) Recordings of plays include both musical scores and dialogue.
Additional unidentified sound recordings of Cosmos's music compositions may be found in Sound Recordings and Born Digital Material. Scripts for many productions are found in Writings by Others. Music compositions written as a component of an art project such as
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 3
Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Including
Oversized material housed in OV 51
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 4
Writings by others consist primarily of book and article manuscripts about or relating to Cosmos and various theater and Off-Off Broadway scripts, many featuring Cosmos as the composer. Also found here is one sound tape reel with two plays by H.M. Koutoukas for which Cosmos is not known to have written the scores. Of note is Tom Bentkowski's article, titled "The Strange Universe of Cosmos," published in the March 13, 1978 issue of
Teaching files are found for the photography courses Cosmos taught at the School of Visual Arts in 1974-1976, and the Parsons School of Design in 1980. Items include administrative documents, assignment descriptions, correspondence, course descriptions and syllabi, tests, maps, as well as student notebooks, projects, artwork, and writings. Material relating to lectures Cosmos delivered at Cooper Union in the 1980s are arranged with Artwork in Series 7, as Cosmos self-identified the series as an art performance.
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 5
Oversize material housed in OV 52
Printed materials and commercially published sound and video recordings in the collection are extensive and reflect Cosmos's unique interests and inspirations, and his tendency to save and collect material discarded or rejected by others. There are books and periodicals featuring Cosmos's work, annotated by Cosmos, or of special significance to Cosmos. There is a large group of ephemera, such as announcements, catalogs, press releases, programs, playbills, and assorted items covering several decades of New York exhibitions, events, concerts, and performances. There are posters for exhibitions, events, performances, film screenings, and concerts.
The series is arranged as four subseries
Books and periodicals feature Cosmos's published photographs, are annotated, or relate to mentors Milton Glaser and Diane Arbus. A copy of
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 6
Material relating to exhibitions and performances dates from 1950s-2000s and are announcements; brochures and pamphlets; exhibition catalogs; press releases; pricelists; programs; playbills; and assorted material. Announcements, which include invitations and flyers, provide a comprehensive document of the New York art world over several decades, including exhibitions and performances at 112 Greene Street, OK Harris, Ronald Feldman Gallery, Light Gallery, Foto, the Kitchen, La Mama, and many more. Exhibition catalogs are from exhibitions on Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and Jasper Johns. Catalogs from thematic exhibitions cover photography, ceramic arts, graphic arts, serial art, American art, and sculpture of the 1960s. Press releases and price lists document the exhibitions and performances of Cosmos and other artists. Programs represent theater and dance performances at both small venues including Westbeth, La Mama, The Bridge, Judson Memorial Church, and large venues like Carnegie Hall and The Metropolitan Opera. Playbills are for Broadway productions including Tom O'Horgan's productions of
Oversized announcements from 1970s housed in Box 44, Folder 7
Oversized announcements from 2000s housed in Box 44, Folder 7
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 7
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folder 8
General clippings and broadcast/published sound recordings were collected and saved by Cosmos from various sources covering a variety of topics of interest to Cosmos. There are clippings, newspapers, postcards, press packages, published sound recordings, a television broadcast about Diane Arbus, and assorted printed materials arranged by subject. Also found are printed materials, photographs, film still, and miscellaneous ephemera affixed to mat board. Sound recordings include two commercially released sound discs (vinyl).
Oversized material housed in Box 44, Folders 9-11 and Box 45, Folders 1-3
Oversized material housed in Box 45, Folder 4-6 and OV 53
Posters are for exhibitions, events, performances, film screenings and concerts; many designed by noteworthy designers and illustrators. Found among the posters are a handwritten announcement for
Oversized material housed on roll (RD) 105
Oversized material housed on roll (RD) 105
Oversized material housed on roll (RD) 105
Photographic material is extensive and illustrates the breadth of Cosmos's documentation of himself and New York City's avant-garde art and theater worlds, people, street scenes, happenings, performances, artwork, self-portraits, and numerous other subjects. In addition there are collected vintage photographic materials. Not all of the negatives, slides, and contact sheets have been identified or sorted.
Varied formats include 35mm and medium format negatives, contact sheets, prints, slides, and transparencies. Collected photographic images are carte de visites, tin types, stereographs, and other vintage and black and white processes. Most folders contain a mix of formats. Many 4 x 6 prints were printed in the 2000s using negatives from the 1970s-2000s. Contact sheets are often fragmented, have images cut out from them, and have tape on the back and front. Negatives have been kept with the contact sheets when they were found together. In most cases, negatives had already been separated from contact sheets and prints. Labeling provided by Cosmos has been preserved when available. Minimal descriptions are written on the back of some photographs, contact sheets, and photocopies.
The series also includes many photocopies of photographic materials and for some imagery, the photocopies are the only format located in the collection.
The series is arranged as eight subseries
Photographic material of people include individuals and groups of people at parties, events, benefits, at work, exhibition openings, parks, festivals, and other venues. There are photographs of people at the Waldorf Astoria Halloween party, and events at Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Whitney, Sotheby's Parke-Bernet, the Empire Room, and the Roseland Ballroom, among many other locations. There are photographs of
There are also portraits photographs taken by Cosmos in his studio and outdoors. He often used an entire roll of film on each subject. Minimal description is provided by Cosmos, typically the first name of the model or the location of the shoot.
Celebrities and art world personalities depicted include Mohamed Ali, Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers, Tom Bentkowski, Bernardo Bertolucci, Leo Castelli, Julie Christie, Alice Cooper, Francis Ford Coppola, Divine, Milton Glaser, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John, Senator Ted Kennedy, Jeffrey Lew, Liza Minelli, Jack Nicolson, Tom O'Horgan, Otto Preminger, James Rosenquist, Frank Roth, Robert and Ethel Scull, Gloria Steinem, Lana Turner, Warhol and his circle, Hannah Wilke, Ben Vereen, Verushka, and many others.
Exhibition openings and cast parties for theater productions clearly identified as such are arranged in Series 6.2 Exhibitions and Performances. Many images on rolls of mixed negatives are part of Cosmos's
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 1
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 1
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 1
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 3
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 3
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 4
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 4
Oversized material house in Box 46, Folders 5-6
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 7
Oversized material housed in OV 74-76
Phographic imagery of exhibitions and performances document the art and theater world in New York, predominantly in the 1970s. Subjects include 112 Greene Street; FOOD restaurant; exhibitions in galleries and museums; performances, and Tom O'Horgan productions.
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 8
Ronnie Cutrone
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 8
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 8
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 8
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 8
Various Tom O'Horgan Productions
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folders 9-10
Various Tom O'Horgan Productions
Various Tom O'Horgan Productions
Oversized Various Tom O'Horgan Productions from Box 18, Folder 14
Oversized Various Tom O'Horgan Productions from Box 18, Folder 14
Photographic imagery of New York City scenes and places includes car crashes (particularly near Westbeth), Columbus Circle, construction and demolition, garbage, graffiti, posters, walls, the Museum of Modern Art sculpture garden, Madison Square Garden, storefronts, windows, doors, street scenes, sunsets, the waterfront, boats, Westbeth neighborhood, streets, gatherings, block parties, parades, and many other sights and scenes.
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 11
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 12
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 12
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 13
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 14
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 15
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 15
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 16
Personal photographic material includes images of Cosmos, his childhood, family, mother, and apartment and studio.
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 17
Oversized material housed in Box 46, Folder 18
Photographic material documents scattered artwork by Cosmos and others. There are images of Cosmos's collages, designs, published works, painting, and drawings. There are also a few images of artwork by others, including Marvin and Margaret Israel, and students.
There are many photographic images taken by Cosmos of secondary sources and ephemera, such as advertisements, comics, detective serials, film stills, flowers, interiors, magazines, mug shots, nature, news articles, various objects, pornography, portraits, postcards, shoes, sports, composer Stefan Wolpe's apartment after a fire, television screens, and workspaces. Also found here are Cosmos's photographs of Charlotte Moorman's scar, 'scars' on a statue at the Metropolitan Museum, and Richard Avedon's famous photograph of Andy Warhol's scar.
Oversized material housed in Box 47, Folder 1
Oversized material housed in Box 47, Folder 1
Oversized material housed in Box 47, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in Box 47, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in OV 77
Oversized material housed in OV 78-80
Collected photographic materials consist of vintage tin types, carte de visites, stereographs, hand colored pictures, and other black and white and color photographs. Subjects include portraits, film stars and stills, documentary images of Pearl Harbor and Auschwitz, landscapes, famous landmarks, and various other subjects.
Oversized material housed in Box 47, Folder 3
Unsorted and unidentified negatives, slides, and contact sheets are found here and could include any of the above identified subject areas. Some may be related to artwork as well. Formats vary and include 35mm and medium format negatives, contact sheets, slides, transparencies, fragments of prints, and photocopies. Contact sheets are often fragmented, have images cut out from them, and have tape on the back and front. Negatives have been kept with the contact sheets when they were found together, but, in most cases, negatives had already been separated from contact sheets and prints. Labeling and descriptive notes provided by Cosmos have been preserved when available.
Oversized material housed in Box 47, Folder 4
The series is arranged as four subseries
There is extensive documentation of Cosmos's named conceptual art projects and series and his photocopied compilations or presentations. Drawings, illustrations, paintings,collages, and sketchbooks are also found, but to a lesser extent. There is also some scattered artwork, mostly prints, by others, including Milton Glaser, Alex Hay, Douglas Huebler, Marvin Israel, Ray Johnson, Ellsworth Kelly, and Eve Sonneman.
Named art projects and art series date from 1960s-2000s and consist primarily of Cosmos's conceptual art projects, often executed in the form of series that spanned decades. Most incorporated a wide variety of formats, such as photographs, photograph fragments, photocopies, writings, drawings, and sound and video recordings.
Documentation is found for his
Many of the art projects are represented by photographic documentation of Cosmos's conceptual performances, such as in
Cosmos's opera project,
Cosmos self-identified his Lecture Series as an art performance on his resume. Thus, the files are arranged here. Cosmos used photocopy extensively in his art, experimenting with tonality, collage, and the degeneration of images from repeated copying. Therefore, many of the files for the art projects and art series contain photocopies; some with descriptive labeling and annotations. For a few art projects, the photocopies are the sole source of documentation found within his papers.
Oversized material moved to Box 47, Folder 6
Oversized material housed in OV 81
Oversized material moved to Box 47, Folders 7-8
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 1
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 2
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 2
Oversized material housed in OV 81
Oversized material housed in OV 82
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folders 3-6
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 7
Oversized material housed in OV 82
Oversized material housed in OV 82
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 7
Oversized material housed in OV 83
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 7
Oversized material housed in OV 83
Oversized material housed in OV 83
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 8
Oversized material housed in OV 84
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 8
Oversized material housed in OV 84
A related sound recording may be found in Series 9, Box 39, Folder 2. Oversized material housed in OV 85.
Oversized material housed in OV 85
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 8
Oversized material housed in OV 86
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 9
Oversized material housed in OV 87
Oversized material housed in OV 88
A related sound recording may be found in Series 9, Box 39, Folder 2
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 9
Oversized material housed in OV 89
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 9
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 10
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 10
A related sound recording may be found in Series 9, Box 39, Folder 2
Oversized material moved to Box 48, Folder 10
Oversized material housed in OV 90
Oversized material housed in OV 90
Oversized material housed in OV 91
Oversized material housed in OV 91
Artwork compilations date from 1970s-2000s and consist of both original and photocopied "presentations" prepared by Cosmos to present to various people in the art world to whom he was close, including Milton Glaser and Ronald Feldman. It appears that the photocopied compilation was considered the final presentation.
The photocopied compilations were originally organized by Cosmos into binders and each one incorporates photocopies of photographs, drawings, printed materials, source materials, ephemera, and often pieces of his named art projects or art series. Many of the photocopies are also annotated or titled on the verso.
The originals for several of the photocopied compilations are also found here. They are comprised of the 4 x 6 photographs of the original compiled materials.
Drawings, illustrations, and a few paintings, collages, and sketchbooks by Cosmos are found here. The early work was completed while he was a student. The illustrations reflect his commercial work, and the drawings and sketches are from courses taken with Shelley Haven and Jeffrey Tolbert at Cooper Union. A few acrylic, watercolor, and ink wash paintings are found. One sketchbook is predominantly pencil copies of Picasso paintings, and the other two are comprised of abstract designs and compositions. There are also many photocopies of the artwork.
Oversized material housed in OV 92
Oversized material housed in OV 93
Oversized material housed in OV 94-97
Oversized material housed in OV 98
Oversized material housed in OV 98
Oversized material housed in OV 99
Oversized material housed in OV 98
Oversized material housed in OV 100
Oversized material housed in Box 48, Folders 11-13
Oversized material housed in OV 101
Artwork by others consists of an artist book, conceptual work, drawings, a sketchbook, and prints by Milton Glaser, Alex Hay, Douglas Huebler, Marvin Israel, Margaret Israel, Ray Johnson, Ellsworth Kelly, and Eve Sonneman. Also found here is artwork by children and unidentified artists.
Oversized material housed in OV 102
Oversized material housed in OV 103
Oversized material housed in OV 102
Oversized material housed in OV 103
Oversized material housed in OV 104
Oversized material housed in OV 104
Artifacts include eight cameras (two medium format cameras are the Rolleicord and the Mamiya C330 that belonged to Diane Arbus; five 35mm cameras - a Kodak Tourist II, Nikon F, FED-2, Leica M6, and Voigtländer Vito II; a Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LZ3 digital camera) and accessories. There is also a crucifix; a paint palette; pens and rulers; pins; a puzzle designed by Peter Max; razors; stamps; and toy soldiers.
This series of sound recordings and born-digital material consists of 145 sound tape reels, forty sound cassettes, and two electronic records. About one-third of the material has concise descriptive labeling, but the labeling does not necessarily clearly identify the contents. However, where possible, these labels are reflected in the file titles below.
Clearly identified sound recordings have been arranged with related documentation in previous series.
Sound tape reels are often recorded and re-recorded, with descriptive labeling crossed out and written over. Some of the sound tape reels are labeled "collage," which might indicate that Cosmos was recording samples of sounds from various sources to string together. Many of the recordings appear to be of Cosmos's compositions, performances, radio and television broadcasts, as well as various sounds of the city. The label on several sound tape reels, "pier 49," a location near his residence at Westbeth, may reflect the recording of its demolition in the early 1970s.