Revisiting an early, formative segment with Adrian Rew (Ergot Records) and Carol Parkinson who co-produced Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine from 1983-1993. A subscription to Tellus would get you a bi-monthly cassette in the mail with recordings featuring poets, artists, no wave punks, and new music composers, mostly downtown NYC (though sometimes issues were made up of entirely China-based contributors). ➚Every issue of tellus is online at Harvestworks here. 

A favorite work in Tellus is from issue #22 from 1988 where Gretchen Bender's Artificial Treatment layers multiple outtakes of a television news anchor reporting a gruesome scene, leaving a listener to imagine it. The anchor's well-rehearsed takes synch robotically until each gives way to some all too human mistake. The result is a terrifying and uncanny revelation of the fairly banal process of mediating reality. Bender was not only a great artist, she also worked in mainstream media producing things like Megadeath music videos and the intro to the TV hit America's Most Wanted. 

➚Listen to the conversation with Carol and Adrian here.

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