Our installations are built from a library of modules — self-contained units of light, sound, and sensory experience that we combine to suit a site, an audience, and a brief. Each module is designed to work on its own and alongside the others, so an installation can be assembled from whichever modules fit the space and the people it is for.
We are designing the library now. The modules are at concept and specification stage; each one goes through a dedicated research-and-testing phase before it is built, so that what reaches the public is safe, robust, and does what we intend. This is a development pipeline, not a finished product catalogue.
How the modules work, and how they are built
Two principles hold the library together. The technology is fixed; the content is swappable — a module’s hardware and control system stay the same from one installation to the next, while the imagery, sound, theme, and narrative change to suit the brief. This makes the library a permanent asset that carries from one project to the next rather than being rebuilt each time. And each module is independent — every one carries its own power, controller, sound, and visuals and runs without depending on the others, so we can add or remove modules without redesigning the rest.
Every module sits on the same small set of technical choices, so any module composes with any other and the library stays maintainable as it grows. Each runs on its own small open-source controller (a Raspberry Pi), chosen deliberately for no vendor lock-in and low enough unit cost that the library can scale. A single universal trigger language (MIDI) links what a visitor does — a footstep, a touch, a movement — to the sound and light that answer it. Each module drives its own dedicated, outdoor-rated speaker, placed so the sound feels integral to the piece. Power is a mix of battery for remote, off-grid placements and mains for static, high-draw modules, weather-rated throughout.
There is no network between the modules and no shared clock — each runs entirely on its own. That independence is an engineering decision as much as a creative one: it removes whole categories of on-site failure, simplifies setup and troubleshooting, and means one module going down leaves the rest running. The only thing uniting them is a shared harmonic framework — a scale or tonal system chosen per installation — so that even where sound from neighbouring modules overlaps, the result stays musically coherent rather than clashing. The coordination is solved once, in the composition, not in fragile wiring on the night. A side effect of that free-running independence is that the way the modules’ light and sound combine is never quite the same twice.
Building and testing before we commit
We treat research and testing as core project work, not contingency. Any module with untested hardware, a novel design, or a new integration point goes through an explicit prototype-and-bench-test phase before its build is locked — and, for anything visitors experience directly, a sensory-safety review before public deployment. We budget this into every project as its own workstream. It is what stops avoidable problems — flicker, audio faults, the wrong components — being discovered at the event instead of at the bench.
What the modules do
The library spans the senses deliberately, so different visitors can engage through whatever channel works for them — sight, sound, touch, movement, breath, warmth, or scent. That range is the access principle in practice: a visitor who finds one channel overwhelming can meet the work through another.
A few examples give the picture:
- Light and projection — projection onto water and mist for drifting, ethereal imagery; sculptural lighting woven into existing trees and planting; weatherproof lit forms that suggest life within a contained space.
- Sound and resonance — a soundscape distributed across the whole site; a pavilion gong whose tones blend into the ambient sound; wind-triggered chimes that also play as a slow, tuned drone.
- Touch and the body — a bench fitted with a transducer that delivers a gentle low-frequency vibration you feel as much as hear; texture stations that answer touch with sound and light.
- Movement and interactivity — pressure-sensitive stepping stones that respond to footfall with coordinated light and sound; a presence layer that lets the whole installation react as visitors move through it.
- Breath and regulation — a slow, breathing-paced modulation that can ripple gently across lantern brightness and sound, setting a calm, unhurried rhythm to the space.
Other modules extend this further — collaborative drawing that projects visitors’ own marks into the scene, warmth stations for cold-sensitive visitors, and a number of longer-horizon concepts we are holding for future development as the work matures.
Full technical specifications, build documentation, and operational procedure for each module live outside this vault.