i'Nstall.

The paper introduces my practice-led project i'Nstall. This research investigates the possibility of transposing the essence of my previous artistic practice - which is much concerned with establishing immediate, often absurd, relationships and transitions between virtual and physical environments - from the gallery space into ‘real life’. A central conceptual issue in this transposition is to avoid imposing ready-made artefacts on other people’s environment but instead to permit each individual to design her own personal set-up. The aim of I’Nstall is to create a reconfigurable, easy-to-use system which allows non-experts to sonify and/or animate mechanically domestic environments in relation to events occurring within the virtual computer environment. i'Nstall is based on a modular tool kit consisting of simple electromechanical devices which ‘act on’ different types of physical objects, architectural structures, appliances, etc., typically found in domestic spaces. Enabled by appropriate software tools, users can assign various activities occurring during daily computer use to specific events in the physical set-up. The paper addresses a variety of challenges posed by the project, concerning both conceptual and practical issues. In this context, I discuss the methodological approach of the research which has a strong focus on finding out how participants might respond to this kind of system and to identify ideas that they might have for future developments. The presentation was aided by audio-visual material featuring early prototypes and mock-ups of i'Nstall elements. While the practical dimension of i'Nstall has never been fully realised, the research has been an important step towards my subsequent project ParaSites, which investigates how the behaviour and strategies of parasites might be used as a model for new sculptural propositions in built environments and, specifically, how these interventions might resonate with concerns in architecture (sonic, visual, structural, historical, symbolic…).