Ouroboros speaks to the cyclical nature of material and of human relationships with the environment. The ouroboros is a symbol of renewal and rebirth, the emblem of chaos around a world of imposed order. As industrialized activity exerts order on the planet, the impulse of the changing climate will impose a global supra-human chaos on human existence. In developing a bioplastic material grown from algae, fulfilling not only the circular aim of leaving no trace but also of fostering abundance through its production, Ouroboros is an emblem of the process of renewal and rebirth. Ouroborous juxtaposes new material with bodies of human and algae, framed in a landscape transitioning from extraction.
The sculpture showcases the material properties developed through the Circular Records project alongside a prototype bioplastic LP record. Circular Records and Ouroboros are realized through the STARTS Repairing the Present Residency at Ars Electronica.
Biographies
Kat Austen (UK/DE) is a person. She creates new media installations, music and performances underpinned by extensive research and theory that elaborate a more socially and environmentally just relationship with others across more-than-human timeframes.Credits
This artwork is realized by Kat Austen and Fara Peluso and co-commissioned by Ars Electronica within the framework of STARTS Residency Repairing the Present with the support of Johannes Kepler University Linz and the Institute of Polymeric Materials and Testing, Innovationshauptplatz of the City of Linz, Greiner Innoventures GmbH, co-funded by the STARTS initiative of the European Union. Videography by Falko Seidel, metalwork Keep Away From Fire.
Funded through the Repairing the Present project. Repairing the Present is a European project which has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement LC01641664.
