With the Walkman and boomboxes, music became mobile in the early 1980s. ‘I could give New York City a certain soundtrack depending on my emotional needs,’ recalls visual artist Joseph Nechvatal. ‘The idea of launching the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was that we were living in a new kind of sonic vibratory environment, and it was interesting to address that as a possibility for contemporary art.’
The launch party for the subscription-only series took place in December 1983 at Paradise Garage, a discotheque popular with the LGBT scene and nightclubbers. Originally conceived by Joseph Nechvatal, curator Claudia Gould and composer Carol Parkinson, each edition was curated by a different artist. Parkinson was also director of Harvestworks, a non-profit organisation focused on giving the visual art community access to making audio art; its studios proved to be the technical backbone for the production of the Tellus releases.
With 27 releases, the cassette magazine presents a broad spectrum of the art scene in downtown New York City – noise, radio art and DIY experiments, no wave, dance music and happenings.
41-minute mix with Gretchen Bender, Jonathan Borofsky, Live Skull, Marjorie Van Halteren and others.
Featured cover art by Jane Bauman: Tellus #10 – All Guitars!
Listen also to Paul Paulun’s 48-minute interview with Joseph Nechvatal from 2021 at the end of this post. Nechvatal talks about the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine as part of the legacy of Marcel Duchamp and conceptual art, the downtown bar scene, Fluxus, and his art inspired by the nature of viruses.
Playlist
George Brecht & George Maciunas with James Tenney – Entrance
Tellus #24: Flux Tellus, 1962
Rais Mahamad Ben Mohammed and Ensemble – Aouda Trio
Tellus #23: The Voices of Paul Bowles, 1959
Jonathan Borofsky – The Standard Chant Pt. 2
Tellus #21: Audio By Visual Artists, 1988
Jamie Daglish and George Elliot – In the 80s
Tellus #2, 1984
Gretchen Bender – Artificial Treatment
Tellus #21: Audio By Visual Artists, 1988
Glenn Branca – Acoustic Phenomena
Tellus #10: All Guitars!, 1985
Live Skull – Corpse
Tellus #1, 1983
Marjorie Van Halteren – Dead of Summer
Tellus #11: The Sound of Radio, 1985
David Blair – Wax (or The Discovery of Television Among Bees)
Tellus #17: Video Arts Music, 1987
Carol Parkinson – Ramp
Tellus #2, 1984
Joseph Nechvatal – How to Kill
Tellus #13: Power Electronics, 1986
Wolfgang Staehle and Steve Pollack – Voice of the President
Tellus #3, 1984
John Fekner – 2-4-5-7-9-11
Tellus #2, 1984
Peter Chamberlain – Five Minutes Up
Tellus #17: Video Arts Music, 1987
Blackhouse – One Nation under God
Tellus #13: Power Electronics, 1986
Liquid Liquid – Grove To Go
Tellus #12: Dance, 1986
On the occasion of the cassette release Selected Sound Works (1981-2021) by Joseph Nechvatal, Paul Paulun spoke with the noise musician and visual artist. Nechvatal talks about the Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine as part of the legacy of Marcel Duchamp and conceptual art, the downtown bar scene, Fluxus, and his art inspired by the nature of viruses.
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