Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was an audio cassette magazine publication on cassette active from 1983 to 1993. Originally intended as a subscription bimonthly, it was launched on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to create an avant-garde media focus on no wave, downtown music, performance art, experimental electronica, noise music, and audio art.Marc Masters, High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape, University of North Carolina Press, p. 68 Over the span of its activity, Tellus broadened its curatorial focus to include such diverse subjects as the contemporary music of China, Just Intonation, Fluxus, Tango, and Paul Bowles.

History Tellus publishers and executive editors – visual artist and noise music composer, Joseph Nechvatal; curator and executive director of the Shaker Museum and Library, Claudia Gould; Aug 13, 2025, CLAUDIA GOULD, FORMER JEWISH MUSEUM DIRECTOR, TO LEAD SHAKER MUSEUM DURING TRANSFORMATION ERA and new music composer and director emerita of Harvestworks, Carol Parkinson Lara Pan on Carol Parkinson at Whitehot Magazine – conceived of the compact cassette medium as a no wave Fluxus-inspired media art form in itself.

Nechvatal and Parkinson had met in the mid-1970s and performed in a performance art / minimal art dance trio with Cid Collins influenced by the post-Merce Cunningham postmodern dance/choreography of Deborah Hay (with whom they studied in 1977) and Carolee Schneemann (with whom they toured Europe in 1978). In 1979, Nechvatal, Collins and Parkinson had organized the five night Public Arts International/Free Speech performance art festival in May at 75 Warren Street in Manhattan and Nechvatal and Parkinson continued to see each other in the art music milieu of the downtown minimal music scene, as they worked for the Dia Art Foundation as archivist (Nechvatal) and assistant (Parkinson) to La Monte Young.Tellus, the Audio Cassette Magazine, The Wire (magazine) October 2001 (Issue 212) p. 69

Nechvatal, who originated the concept of the project, chose the name Tellus from Tellus Mater, the Roman earth goddess of fecundity. In 2007, French music blogger Continuo and Stephen McLaughlin created an online mp3 archive of all of the Tellus tracks and accessibly archived them at Ubuweb. A Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Special Dublab Broadcast on Thursday, June 24, 2021

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology series In 2026, the record label Earth Libraries began producing an anthology series of double vinyl LP records, created in collaboration with the founders of Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine. Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine: Portable NYC Art from the Walkman Era, Randall Roberts, In Sheeps Clothing Hifi Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Volume I Tracks on the Anthology records are remastered from the original cassette masters and packaged with archival photos. Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Volume I contains liner notes written by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth.New Music: "’80s Downtown NYC Audio Cassette Magazine TELLUS Getting Vinyl Anthology Feat. Sonic Youth, Liquid Liquid, Live Skull, & More", Stereogum, Chris DeVille

Historical recognition Ego Masher (1983) 07:05 by Joseph Nechvatal - from Tellus #1 - has been anthologized on the CD An Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music #6. In 2007, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was mentioned as an inspiration to the opening of the Sound Art Museum in Rome, Italy. An exhibition was held at Printed Matter, Inc. 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 Audio Cassette Magazine. In 2011, selections from early Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine recordings were included in MoMA's exhibition Looking at Music 3.0. On August 17, 2011, Kill Ugly Radio broadcast Episode 08.16.11: Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine that is archived online. Kill Ugly Radio Episode 08.16.11: Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine In September 2011, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was the sole subject of a Kontra Bass (BSSX) internet radio broadcast originating in Serbia. Tellus Audio / Kontra Bass archived at Archive Org 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. Devon Maloney, Master Cactus: The Art Zine Available Only on Cassette. Wired In 2016, Multi-genre compiler and NTS radio host Jaro Sounder created and streamed Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Selections Vol. 1 (1983–1993) on Bandcamp. Jaro Sounder Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Selections Vol. 1 (1983–1993), Bandcamp. In 2017, curator Tom Leeser created an audio homage to Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine titled Imagining Tellus # 28: Heard in LA, stating that "The Tellus Project, produced and curated by Carol Parkinson, Joseph Nechvatal and Claudia Gould, is now considered a historic and significant archive of experimental sound, noise, performance and spoken word artists from the 1980s." Imagining Tellus # 28: Heard in LA In 2018, Adrian Rew of Blank Forms, a curatorial platform focused on the presentation and preservation of experimental performance, spoke with Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine co-founder Carol Parkinson on Montez Press Radio to discuss the history of the pioneering sound art label and play selections from its tape-o-graphy. In 2019, Ego Masher (1983) by Joseph Nechvatal from Tellus #1 was included on the audio anthology Manic Antenna 34: Move On Up!Ego Masher on Manic Antenna 34: Move On Up! 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…."Kenneth Goldsmith, Duchamp Is My Lawyer: The Polemics, Pragmatics, and Poetics of UbuWeb, Columbia University Press, New York, p. 243. On June 24, 2021, a two-hour Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Special aired on Dublab with Tellus co-founders Carol Parkinson and Joseph Nechvatal joining Dublab host Frosty for a survey of the Tellus mission and history and a selection of Tellus archival recordings. Archived Dublab Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Special radio program. October 30, 2021, The Quietus writer Robert Barry published Tape Hiss: Joseph Nechvatal & The History Of Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine. The Quietus, Robert Barry, Tape Hiss: Joseph Nechvatal & The History Of Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine November 6, 2021, The story of Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was featured on composer, collector and archivist of rare music, Jean Jacques Palix's music blog beyond the coda. June 17, 2022, music historian Paul Paulun published at Sounds Central an audio program of his selected Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine tracks called Tellus: New York City’s Art Scene on Tape (1983–1993). Sounds Central, Tellus: New York City’s Art Scene on Tape (1983–1993) November 13 to December 1, 2024, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine was featured in the CYFEST 16 International Media Art Festival in Yerevan, Armenia. CYFEST 16: Archive of Feelings. A Journey February 22, 2024, In Sheep's Clothing Hifi web-published an homage to Tellus titled Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine: Portable NYC Art from the Walkman Era.Randall Roberts, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine: Portable NYC Art from the Walkman Era November 30, 2024, Neri Rosa of Mutante Radio in Centro Americana, São Paulo, broadcast a No Wave radio special on Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Part 1. Mutante Radio, Episode 93, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine, Produção e Apresentação Neri Rosa January 1, 2025 Sarah Teraha presented a Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine radio program on NTS Radio Paris. Sarah Teraha Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Radio Program January 10, 2025, Neri Rosa of Mutante Radio in Centro Americana, São Paulo, broadcast a No Wave radio special on Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine Part 2. Mutante Radio, Episode 94, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine, Produção e Apresentação Neri Rosa

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