“There’s some kind of magic that happens with direct-to-disc recording”: Introducing The VF Lathe

The Vinyl Factory’s mobile cutting lathe made its debut earlier this month at the Venice Biennale.

Installed in the David Adjaye-designed Arena at the heart of the Biennale for the opening week to cut live performances from Jeremy Deller, Jason Moran and many others direct to disc, the lathe is one of just a few hundred left operating in the world and one of the only mobile units of its kind.

A central part of curator Okwui Enwezor’s vision for this year’s Biennale, entitled All The World’s Futures, we spoke to Okwui in Venice about the lathe and the Arena performances before catching up with engineer Crispin Murray to find out how it actually works and just what makes cutting live direct to vinyl so special.