Born Christine Carol Newby in 1951 in Hull, England, she began her career in COUM Transmissions, which she was a founding member of. COUM was a music and performance art collective, based in ideas pulled from the Fluxus movement, as well as Dadaism. They were openly confrontational and subversive–challenging aspects of Britain’s society. Cosey worked as Cosmosis before 1973. “Cosey Fanni Tutti” was suggested by a mail artist, Robin Klassnick, and is derived from opera. It means “thus do they all.” COUM Transmissions was founded in 1969, but the peak of its cultural relevance was the 1976 art show Prostitution at the London Institute of Contemporary Art.
This exhibit was created with images of Cosey generated through her work in pornographic magazines and films for many years. It also included explicit photographs of lesbians, assemblages of rusty knives, syringes, bloodied hair, used sanitary towels, press clippings, and photo documentation of COUM performances in Milan and Paris. Censorship restrictions were imposed on it, so that only one image could be viewed at a time. This exhibit caused a lot of outrage and led to them being called “wreckers of civilization.”
Throbbing Gristle
(1975-1981)
Throbbing Gristle had actually been founded in 1975, and its first public debut had been at the Prostitution exhibit. Cosey was interested in the concept of ‘acceptable’ music and how sound can be used physically to create pleasure or pain. Beginning in 1976, she focused on exploring these ideas with Chris Carter, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, and Genesis P-Orridge. They are considered to be the pioneers of industrial music and founded the label Industrial Records in 1976. They were a music and visual arts group, combining disturbing visuals with sound manipulation. They disbanded in 1981, with P-Orridge moving on to Psychic TV and Christopherson going on to work with Coil. Tutti and Carter went on to form Chris and Cosey. Throbbing Gristle got back together between 2004 and 2009 and made three new albums. Here are some Throbbing Gristle classics!
Chris and Cosey
(1981-present)
Chris and Cosey made four records for the Rough Trade label: Heartbeat (1981), Trance ( 1982), Songs of Love and Lust (1984), and Techno Primitiv (1985). Their music combined electronics with sampling and Cosey’s vocals and cornet playing. They began their own independent label in 1983, Creative Technology Institute (CTI), which was used to release more experimental works and collaborations. They worked with independent labels to have their work distributed in and outside of the U.K., including: DoubleVision (Cabaret Voltaire’s label), Nettwerk, Play It Again Sam, Staalplast, Wax Trax, and World Serpent Distribution.
They have collaborated with many other artists, such as: Monte Cazazza, Coil, Current 93, John Duncan, Erasure, Eurythmics, Boyd Rice, and Robert Wyatt. These collaborations were collected on an album, Core (1988). They produce two CD series’: Library of Sound (L.O.S.) and Electronic Ambient Remixes (E.A.R.), which currently have four volumes each.
They were rebirthed at the millenium as Carter Tutti. Please enjoy some selections from their very good and long catalog.
Cosey continues to work as a musician and performance artist. She co-edited and published Cosey Complex in 2012, which is the first major publication attempt to discuss and theorize Tutti as a methodology. She also published her memoir Art Sex Music in 2017.
Here is her interview from last year on BBC’s Radio 4 “Woman’s Hour.”
A WOMAN A DAY TIL BIKINI KILL IN L.A. 