Thursday, November 19, at 7 p.m.
Join us at e-flux for an evening celebrating TELLUS: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1, a new vinyl compilation of recordings from TELLUS, a subscription-based cassette magazine from the 1980s that brought together visual art, sound art, music, and poetry.
The program includes a short performance by Paul DeMarinis and a presentation of “Birdcalls” by Louise Lawler, both of whom were featured on the original TELLUS cassettes. A roundtable conversation and listening session will bring together TELLUS founders Carol Parkinson, Joseph Nechvatal, and Claudia Gould, along with Harvestworks interim director Ivana Dama. Sanna Almajedi, e-flux performance curator, will moderate.
About TELLUS
TELLUS began in 1983 at a bar on Canal Street, where visual artist Joseph Nechvatal, curator Claudia Gould, and composer and Harvestworks staff member Carol Parkinson met to discuss a cassette magazine for challenging sound works. With the arrival of the Walkman and boombox, the editors saw a need for an alternative to radio programming and commercially available recordings. They invited contributing editors to propose themes for each edition, including “Fluxus,” “Power Electronics,” “Video Arts Music,” and “Audio by Visual Artists.”
The magazine presented emerging artists alongside established ones, historical works alongside contemporary pieces, and high art alongside popular culture to encourage dialogue across artistic disciplines. It became a meeting point for visual art, music, poetry, and sound art, with contributors including Mike Kelley, Paul Bowles, Kiki Smith, and Julius Eastman. A subscription cost $20 for six issues. Francis Ford Coppola was among its notable subscribers, and the list soon grew to include museums and libraries around the world. TELLUS ran for a decade and shipped its final cassette in 1993 as CDs began to overtake the market.
The Program
Paul DeMarinis appeared on TELLUS #9: Music with Memory, a 1985 issue focused on computers as personal instruments. For his segment, he used a “computerized touch sensitive guitar along with speech synthesis.” At e-flux, he will perform “The American,” a piece from his forthcoming release Tasty Dishes from Waste Items.
Louise Lawler appeared on TELLUS #5 & #6: Special Double Audio Visual Issue, a 1984 issue featuring a wide range of visual artists working in sound art and music. “Birdcalls” opens Side A. In the piece, Lawler pronounces the names of twenty-eight famous white male visual artists, including Carl Andre and Donald Judd, by chirping, squawking, and warbling them like birdcalls.
This program is curated by Sanna Almajedi, e-flux performance curator.
For more information, please contact program@e-flux.com.
Accessibility
- Two flights of stairs lead to the building’s front entrance at 172 Classon Avenue.
- For elevator access, please RSVP to program@e-flux.com. A freight elevator leads into the e-flux office space. The elevator entrance is through the garage door nearest 180 Classon Avenue. A ramp is available for the steps inside the space.
- e-flux has an ADA-compliant bathroom. There are no steps between the event space and the bathroom.