TELLUS is a Harvestworks program 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 that 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, they then began to collect, produce, document, and define the art of audio by publishing works by local, national, and international artists. They worked with contributing editors and experts in their fields, who proposed themes and collected the best works from that genre. Unknown artists were teamed with well-known artists, and historical works were juxtaposed with contemporary and high art with popular art, all to enhance the crossover communication between the different mediums of art — visual, music, performance, and spoken word.

On CYFEST 16, we feature 26 releases on the cassettes, acknowledging this medium, which was revitalised recently by the broad public and has a consistent interest from enthusiasts of sound as a perfect medium for durational uninterrupted anti-streaming medium today.