Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

Launched from the Lower East Side, Manhattan, in 1983 as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the Tellus cassette series took full advantage of the popular cassette medium to promote cutting-edge downtown music,[1] documenting the New York scene and advancing experimental composers of the time – the first 2 issues being devoted to NY artists from the downtown no wave scene.[2] The series was financially supported along the years by funding from the New York State Council of the Arts, Colab and the National Endowment for the Arts.[3]

Tellus cassette tapes from the Christian Marclay cover art for TellusTools

The Tellus Project
Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine logo

Tellus publishers - visual artist and noise music composer Joseph Nechvatal; former curator-director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and current curator-director of The Jewish Museum, Claudia Gould; and new music composer and director of Harvestworks, Carol Parkinson - never considered running an underground culture audio publication. Rather, they envisaging the compact cassette medium as a no wave fluxus art form in itself. This was quite a unique point of view at a time (the early 1980s), when many self-released cassettes blossomed through mail order and trade between audio artists, mail art folks and hardcore punk bands who were promoting a mostly minimalism punk inspired DIY technique of more-or-less anti-art nihilism.[4] Nechvatal and Parkinson had met in the mid-1970s performing in a performance art / minimal art dance trio with Cid Collins, as influenced by the post-Merce Cunningham postmodern dance/choreography of Lucinda Childs, Deborah Hay, Yvonne Rainer and Carolee Schneemann (with whom they toured Europe in 1978). In 1979, Nechvatal, Collins and Parkinson organized the Public Arts International/Free Speech performance art festival and Nechvatal and Parkinson continued to see each other in the art music milieu of the rigorous downtown minimal music scene, as they worked for the Dia Art Foundation as archivist and assistant to La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela.[1] So, by contrast to typical lax punk art attitudes of the time, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine never indulged in rank amateurism. Their audio releases were always tightly focused, well researched and aptly curated.

Curatorial policy

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was in activity for the ten years of 1983-1993, thus witnessing and participating in the digital revolution taking place in new media arts. Some points of comparison can be established with the Toronto-based MusicWorks Journal cassette series (launched in 1978) and with the ROIR cassette-only releases of various musical styles (from Flipper to Lee Perry to Einstürzende Neubauten) launched in 1981.

Tellus published audio art, new music, poetry and drama, exploring musical spheres as diverse as avant-garde composition, post-industrial music, NY no wave, Fluxus sounds, noise music, heirs to Harry Partch, avant rock, sound poetry, radio plays, tango, electroacoustic music, sound collage etc.

The series included some landmark sound works now regarded as historical: Louise Lawler's "Birdcalls" (Tellus #5-6), Christian Marclay's "Groove" (Tellus #8), Lee Ranaldo's "The Bridge" (Tellus #10) and Alison Knowles's "Nivea Cream Piece" (Tellus #24); among others.

Tellus championed the audio work of women and gay artists,[1] something that was very much needed at the time in the machismo-tinged experimental music scene. Their curatorial policy was efficient, as well, as the editorial trio sometimes asked outside specialists to compile a program in their own field. This policy ensured state-of-the-art programming.

Distribution and production

From the start, the founding members deliberately aimed at raising the profile of cassette culture releases, sending Tellus issues by mail to US public libraries, university galleries and various art museums. In addition the Tellus team helped launch the Harvestworks Artist-In-Residence Program which was set up to help promote independent artists’ projects and provide them with a professional sound recording facility: namely Studio PASS.

Legacy and appreciation
  • Ego Masher (1983) 07:05 by Joseph Nechvatal - from Tellus #1 - has been anthologized on the CD Anthology Of Noise & Electronic Music #6.
  • Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine has been mentioned as an inspiration to the opening of the Sound Art Museum in Rome (2007).
  • An exhibition was held at Printed Matter in New York City devoted to current American cassette culture entitled Leaderless: Underground Cassette Culture Now (May 12–26, 2007) that referred to the influence of Tellus.
  • In 2011, selections from early Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine recordings were included in MoMA's exhibition Looking at Music 3.0.
  • In February 2011, issues of Artforum (with images of covers) and Artnews covered Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine.
  • In 2013, Devon Maloney, at Wired Magazine, reports that Master Cactus: The Art Zine Available Only on Cassette, was directly inspired by Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine.[5]
  • In 2020, Kenneth Goldsmith writes in his book Duchamp Is My Lawyer: The Polemics, Pragmatics, and Poetics of Ubuweb that “Perhaps no collection of audio inspired UbuWeb more than the Tellus cassettes….”[6]

The Tellus Archives

In November–December 2007 blogger Continuo, digital artist Stephen McLaughlin, and avantgarde resource Ubuweb created an online archive for the Tellus audio recordings as free mp3 files.

Tellus cassettography
Tellus #1
Cassette, 1983.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Walter Robinson.
With Jody Harris, Jerry Lindahl, Sonic Youth, Brenda Hutchinson, Live Skull, Tom Lopez/ZBS Productions, Rat At Rat R, Bradley Eros, Bruce Tovsky, Gretchen Langheld, Mitch Corber, Barbara Ess (with Barbara Barg), Joseph Nechvatal, Verge Piersoi, Tron Von Hollywood with Raina Jane Sherry, David Linton, Rhys Chatham.
Tellus #2
Cassette, 1984.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Jane Dickson.
With Kiki Smith, John Fekner, Vernita Nemec, The Scene Is Now, Tony Papa, Cardboard Air Band, Peter Nechvatal, Charlie Morrow, Alex Noyes, Ikkoh Mine, David Rosenbloom, Carol Parkinson, David Garland, John Fekner, Mitch Corber, Jamie Daglish and George Elliot, Dr. Telecom (Willoughby Sharp, Susan Britton, Robert Stewart, Virge Piersol), Charlie Noyes, Holly Huges+Sally A. White+Maureen Angelos+Jill Kirschen+Janee Pipik, Ron Kuivila.
Tellus #3
Cassette, 1984.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Erik Kualszik.
With Kirby Malone, Jim Farmer, Christopher Knowles, Disband, Chain Gang, Gregory Whitehead, Daniel Shklalr, Bruce Tovaky, Wolfgang Staehle and Steve Pollack, Isaac Jackson, Colab's Cardboard Air Band, John Shirley and Sync 66, Tim Schellenbeum, The Tlnklers, Boom, Brian Reinbolt, Wharton Tiers.
Tellus #4 Piano
Cassette, 1984.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Joseph Nechvatal.
With Julius Eastman, David Weinstein, Michael Byron, Paul Dresher, Carol Parkinson, Ellen Fullman, John Morton.
Tellus #5 & 6 Double Audio Visual Issue
Cassette, 1984.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Special boxed double issue. Cover by Joseph Nechvatal.
With Louise Lawler, Paul McMahon and Nancy Chun, Julie Harrison, Richard Prince, Julie Wachtel, Perry Hoberman, Ericka Beckman, David Wojnarowicz and Doug Bressler, Paul McMahon and Nancy Chun, Raimund Kummer, Barbara Barg and Barbara Ess, Kathryn High, Bite Like A Kitty, Anne Turyn, Michael Smith, Rhys Chatham.
Tellus #7 The Word I
Cassette, 1984.
Curated by Gregory Whitehead. Cover art by Peter Nagy.
With Linda Fisher, Michael Peppe, Wiska Radiewicz, John Miller, Terry Wilson, Lynne Tillman, Victor Poison-Tete, Jean-Paul Curtay, Claire Picher, Patrick McGrath, Molly Elder, Michael Gira, Gregory Whitehead, Nicolas Nowack, Cid Collins Walker, Richard Kostelanetz, Paul Bob Town, Nameless Stone Productions.
Tellus #8 USA/Germany
Cassette, 1985.
Curated by Carlo McCormick. Cover art by Debbie Davis.
With Konk, Joshua Fried, Details At Eleven, Cargo Cult, Destructo, His Masters Voice, Rat at rat r, Yellow Grave, Live Skull, Elliott Sharp, Fast Forward, Christian Marclay, Club of Rome (aka Asmus Tietchens), Saurekeller, Galerie Global, Nicolas Nowack.
Tellus #9 Music with Memory
Cassette, 1985.
Curated by John Driscoll. Cover art by Carol Parkinson.
With Nicolas Collins, John Driscoll, Brenda Hutchinson, Ron Kuivila, Paul DeMarinis.
Tellus #10 All Guitars!
Cassette, 1985.
Curated by Live Skull founding member Tom Paine. Cover art by Jane Bauman.
With Lee Ranaldo, Arto Lindsay and Toni Nogueira, Janice Sloane, Butthole Surfers, New Detroit Inc., Bob Mould, Bond Bergland, Joseph Nechvatal, Elliott Sharp, David Linton, Jules Baptiste, Tim Schellenbaum, Bump, Rudolph Grey, Hahn Rowe, John Myres, Lydia Lunch and Lucy Hamilton, Sue Hanel, Blixa Bargeld, Andrew Nahem, Sandra Seymour, Run Nigger Run aka Steve Albini, Thurston Moore, Mark C. and Marnie Greenholz, Glenn Branca, James Vidos, Angela Babin and Joe Dizney, Frankenjerry.
Tellus #11 The Sound of Radio
Cassette, 1985.
Curated by Karen Frillmann and Karen Pearlman. Cover art by Steven Frailey.
With Jay Allison, Adam Cornford and Daniel Crafts, Susan Stone, The New York IPS, M’lou Zahner Ollswang, Ginna Allison, Marjorie van Halteren, Lou Giansante, Karen McPherson, Barrett Golding, Rick Harris, Janice Bell and Portia Franklin, Melanie Berzon, Edward Haber, Steve Jones, Helen Thorington, Ginger Miles, Karen Frillmann.
Tellus #12 Dance
Cassette, 1986.
Curated by Gretchen Langheld and Bruce Tovsky. Cover art by Barbara Ess.
With Bill Obrecht, A. Leroy, R. McQuire, Carol Parkinson, Linda Fisher, Lenny Pickett, Anita Feldman+Michael Kowalski, J.A. Deane, Gretchen Langheld, Bruce Tovsky, Brooks Williams, Jim Farmer, Hearn Gadbois, Liquid Liquid, Al Diaz, David Linton.
Tellus #13 Power Electronics
Cassette, 1986.
Curated by Joseph Nechvatal. Cover art by Joseph Nechvatal.
With Maybe Mental, Merzbow, Amor Fati, If, Bwana, Rhys Chatham, Psyclones, Blackhouse, Joseph Nechvatal, Master/Slave Relationship, Maybe Mental, Architects Office, Controlled Bleeding, Mojo (aka Jim Smith), Coup de Grâce, Le Syndicat, Mitch Corber, F/i.
Tellus #14 Just Intonation
Cassette, 1986.
Curated by the Just Intonation Network. Cover art by James Nares.
With Harry Partch, Ralph David Hill, Carola B. Anderson, David Hykes, Lou Harrison, Jon Catler, David Canright, David B. Doty, John Bischoff,+Jim Horton+Tim Perkis, Ben Johnston, Erling Wold, Susan Norris, James Tenney, Larry Polansky, Alexis Alrich, Jody Diamond.
Tellus #15 The Improvisors
Cassette, 1986.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Scott Richter.
With live ‘improvisions’ by Chris Cochrane, Anthony Coleman, Carol Emanuel, Tom Cora, Bill Frisell, Bobby Previte, Lindsay Cooper, Fred Frith, Irene Schweizer, Christian Marclay, Bill Horvitz, David Weinstein, Denman Maroney, Samm Bennett, Jim Staley, Ikue Mori, John Zorn.
Tellus #16 Tango
Cassette, 1986.
Contributing editor Gerald Lindhal. Cover art by Russell Buckingham.
With Carlos Gardel, David Garland, Chris DeBlasio, Keeler, Brenda Hutchinson and Gerald Lindhal, Alan Tomlinson, Elodie Lauten, Jo Basile and Orchestra, Robert Scheff, Molly Elder, Matthew Nash, Jo Basile and Orchestra, Christopher Berg, Fast Forward, Mader.
Tellus #17 Video Art Music
Cassette, 1987.
Curated by Peer Bode. Cover art by Peer Bode.
With Woody Vasulka, Peter Chamberlain, Richard Kostelanetz, Shelley Hirsch, Joe D’Agostino, Julie Harrison, Kjell Bjorgeengen, Sorrel Hays, Eric Ross, Megan Roberts, Jean-Paul Curtay.
Tellus #18 Experimental Theater
Cassette, 1988.
Curated by Claudia Gould and Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Mike Kelley.
With Spalding Gray, Ann Magnuson with Vulcan Death Grip, Mike Kelley with Sonic Youth, Jerri Allyn, Ann Magnuson and Lydia Lunch.
Tellus #19 New Music China
Cassette, 1988.
Curated R.I.P. Hayman. Cover art by Zhang Wei with calligraphy by Huang Pao Lian.
With Ji Gong, Wang Li, Zhang Xing, Tiao Ba Tiao Ba, Zui Jiu, Hao Yuchi, Electronic Dirge, Xian Percussion Ensemble, Miao Love Chant, Liu Dehal, Gong Yi, Fred Houn, Chen Yi, Ge Gan-ru, Zhou Long, Wu Wen Guang, Tan Dun, R.I.P. Hayman, Jing Jing Luo.
Tellus #20 Media Myth
Cassette, 1988.
Curated by Joseph Nechvatal. Cover art by Steven Parrino.
With Randy Greif, Pierre Perret, The Psychic Workshop, Social Interiors, If, Bwana, Crawling With Tarts, Violence and The Sacred, Art Interface, Minóy, Nicolas Collins, Silent But Deadly, JPM Studios, Joseph Nechvatal, A Place To Pray, Maurice Methot, Michael Chocholak, Dance.
Tellus #21 Audio By Visual Artists
Cassette, 1988.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by Cindy Sherman.
With Joseph Beuys, Maurice Lemaître, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Raoul Hausmann, Antonio Russolo, Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Lawrence Weiner, George Brecht, Patrick Ireland, Richard Huelsenbeck, Arrigo Lora-Totino and Fogliati, Jean Dubuffet, Mimmo Rotella, Joan Jonas, Christian Boltanski, Ian Murray, Terry Fox, Jonathan Borofsky, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Richard Prince with Robert Gober, Martin Kippenberger, Jack Goldstein, John Armleder, Terry Allen, Gretchen Bender, Y Pants, Ed Tomney, Susan Hiller.
Tellus #22 False Phonemes
Cassette, 1988.
Curated by Ellen Zweig. Cover art by Matt Mullican.
With Remko Scha, Larry Wendt, Brian Reinbolt, Mark Rudolph, Alice Shields, Paul DeMarinis, Paul Lansky, Jon English/Jim Pomeroy, Ron Kuivila, John Cage
Tellus #23 The Voices of Paul Bowles
Cassette, 1989.
Curated by Stephen Frailey. Cover photograph by Antonin Kratochvil.
Audioportrait incl. Paul Bowles early compositions Music for a Farce, Interlude and Prelude # 2, and Moroccan field recordings.
Tellus #24 FluxTellus
Cassette, 1990.
Curated by Fluxus archivist Barbara Moore. Cover art by Peter Moore. Including a 16-page accordion fold-out booklet with Barbara Moore's essay The Sound Of Music.
Featuring early sound work by George Brecht, Philip Corner, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, George Maciunas, Jackson Mac Low, Larry Miller, Tomas Schmit, Robert Watts and Emmett Williams. The cassette case includes a sound art work by Takako Saito.
Tellus #25 Siteless Sounds
Compact Disc, 1991.
Curated by Claudia Gould, Joseph Nechvatal, Carol Parkinson. Cover art by David Wojnarowicz.
Contains political and personal views as expressed through new audiotext works by David Wojnarowicz and Ben Neill, Shelley Hirsch, David Moss, Constance DeJong, Brenda Hutchinson, Gregory Whitehead and a collaboration with Jacki Apple, Linda Albertano, Keith Antar Mason and Akailah Nayo Oliver.
Tellus #26 Jewel Box
Compact Disc and Cassette, 1992.
Curated by Brian Karl. Cover art by Kiki Smith.
With Anne LeBaron, Laetitia Sonami, Sussan Deihim, Bun-Ching Lam, Catherine Jauniaux and Ikue Mori, Sapphire, Mary Ellen Childs, Michelle Kinney.
Tellus #27 Mini-mall
Curated by Brian Karl. Cover art by Vito Acconci
Compact Disc, 1993.
With Brenda Hutchinson, Jin Hi Kiim, and Pauline Oliveros with Fanny Green.
Tellus Tools
Double-LP (TE-LP01), 2001.
Curated by Taketo Shimada. Cover art by Christian Marclay.
Including selections from previous issues: Isaac Jackson, Alan Tomlinson, Joe Jones, Christian Marclay, Ken Montgomery, Catherine Jauniaux, Ikue Mori, David Linton, Gregory Whitehead, The League Of Automatic Music Composers, Maurice Lemaire, Jerry Lindahl, Tim Schellenbaum and Jack Goldstein.
  • Tellus #01
  • Tellus #02
  • Tellus #03
  • Tellus #04
  • Tellus #05-06
  • Tellus #08
  • Tellus #13
  • TellusTools 2xLP
  • TellusTools ad

Footnotes
  1. McCormick, Carlo (2006). The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene, 1974–1984. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691122861.
  2. Essays by Claudia Gould, Carol Parkinson, Joseph Nechvatal, Carlo McCormick, Brian Karl, Gen Ken Montgomery, Barbara Moore and Taketo Shimada included in TellusTools liner notes, Harvestworks ed., 2001
  3. Alan W. Moore, Artists' Collectives: Focus on New York, 1975-2000 in Collectivism After Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945, Blake Stimson & Gregory Sholette, (eds) University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2007, pp. 193-221
  4. Robert Palmer Pop Life: Electric Guitars, The New York Times, September 25th, 1985
  5. Devon Maloney, Master Cactus: The Art Zine Available Only on Cassette Wired
  6. Kenneth Goldsmith, Duchamp Is My Lawyer: The Polemics, Pragmatics, and Poetics of UbuWeb, Columbia University Press, New York, p. 243

References
  • Rockwell, John (27 July 1986). "Where Avant-Garde Meets Rock-and-Roll, Music Flourishes". The New York Times.
  • Allen, Gwen (2011). Artists' Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art. The MIT Press. p. 304. ISBN 9780262015196.
  • Baily, Thomas Bey William (2012). Unofficial Release: Self-Released And Handmade Audio In Post-Industrial Society. Belsona Books Ltd. pp. 88–89. ISBN 9780615611273.
  • Palmer, Robert (17 June 1986). "The Names May Change, But the Beat Goes On". The New York Times.
  • Jackson, Isaac (February 1984). "Messages". Folio.
  • Palmer, Robert (25 September 1985). "Pop Life: Electric Guitars". The New York Times.
  • Pareles, Jon (11 May 1987). "Cassette Underground". The New York Times.
  • Moore, Barbara (1990). "The Sound of Music". Tellus (24).
  • James, Robin, ed. (1992). Cassette Mythos. Autonomedia. ISBN 9780936756691.
  • Toop, David (1995). Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds. Serpent's Tail. ISBN 9781852427436.
  • Emmerson, Simon (2000). Music, Electronic Media and Culture. Ashgate Publishing Co. ISBN 9780754601098.
  • Gould, Claudia; Parksinson, Carol; Nechvatal, Joseph; McCormick, Carlo; Karl, Brian; Montgomery, Gen Ken; Moore, Barbara; Shimada, Taketo (2001). TellusTools (Media notes). Harvestworks.
  • Hinkle-Turner, Elizabeth (2006). Women Composers and Music Technology in the United States. Ashgate Publishing Co. ISBN 9780754604617.
  • Moore, Alan W. (2007). Stimson, Blake; Sholette, Gregory (eds.). Collectivism After Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 193–221. ISBN 9780816644629.

Online articles
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