Circular Records aims to produce a prototype biomaterial long player record. The next evolution of vinyl for a circular revolution in sound and music. 

A project by Kat Austen and Fara Peluso. Visit Fara’s site.

Circular Records will develop a solution that addresses the environmental impact of new media art, focussing on sound art, by creating a zero- or low-carbon way for listeners to acquire sound works.

The motivation for Circular Records stems from the conceptual crisis arising from being a new media artist working through sound on environmental themes, particularly themes of microplastic pollution and the climate crisis. Every form of sharing sound has a high environmental impact. As an artist working towards a more socially and environmentally just future, I have been faced with no good options by which to share my music and sound works. 

Circular Records was funded through a STARTS residency at Ars Electronica as part of the Repairing the Present project (2022)

With Circular Records, we aim to release as a prototype the first ever long player record made of novel, composite biomaterial. The album we will release will be a reworking for Circular Records of my newest work, This Land is Not Mine, an album about a region that is transitioning away from open cast fossil fuel mining as its primary industry.

This will be an alternative to the highly polluting and popular vinyl record. We will test, develop and combine biomaterials to achieve the necessary material properties, concurrently developing a record manufacturing method suitable for this material. In the end, we will have a prototype release of an experimental music album (This Land is Not Mine | Album) that addresses the complexities of the fossil fuel extractives industry.

Circular Records research is presented in installation form as Ouroboros.