TELLUS is a program of Harvestworks, created in 1983 at the Rum Runner Bar on Canal Street in New York City. Joseph Nechvatal, a visual artist, Claudia Gould, a curator and Carol Parkinson, a composer and staff member of Harvestworks/Studio PASS met to discuss the idea of a magazine on cassette which would feature interesting and challenging sound works. With the advent of the Walkman and the Boom Box, the editors perceived a need for an alternative to radio programming and the commercially available recordings on the market at that time.
AS A TEAM we then began to collect, produce, document and define the art of audio through publishing works from local, national and international artists. We worked with contributing editors, experts in their fields, who proposed themes and collected the best works from that genre. Unknown artists were teamed with well-known artists, historical works were juxtaposed with contemporary and high art with popular art, all in an effort to enhance the crossover communication between the different mediums of art – visual, music, performance and spoken word.”
DISTRIBUTION — OUR NETWORK includes museums, libraries, and interested audiophiles all over the United States and Europe. We Never Sleep (Denver); RRRecords (MA); The Walker Art Center (MN); The Wexner Center (OH); Bound and UnBound Books, the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art (LA) The Whitney Museum, Printed Matter @ DIA, St. Mark’s Books, Tower Records; Silent Records (San Francisco); Wall of Sound (Seattle); WPA (Washington, D.C.); Art Vivant (Japan); ELB, Odd Size Records and Metamkine (France); Marginal Distribution, Art Metropole (Canada); and StaalPlaat (Amsterdam).