’Cosmo represents many things-foremost, my aspirations for harmony and the realization of a dream.’

Cosmo Trolling the Streets (2012)

In 1985, Visual AIDS artist member John Hanning created a character that would evolve into Cosmo, his stick-figure alter-ego and soon-to-be virtual avatar. Wandering New York City, you may have seen the black-and-white square stickers, bearing Cosmo’s figure, adorning poles, subway ads, etc.

Featured above, #WHERESCOSMO is a new short video by Hanning, which he describes as: “In the ’80s I created a character that evolved into Cosmo, my stick-figure alter-ego and virtual avatar. Cosmo represents many things--first and foremost, my aspirations for harmony and the realization of a dream. Like most of my work, Cosmo is a seemingly never-ending story...and today a new chapter begins.”