Practitioner report: Composing interaction: performativity in Mechanical

Abstract

This paper explores the creation of Mechanical (2016), an interactive sound installation that explores the sound and physicality of old, worn and broken bicycle parts. In the paper I examine the question: what is the nature of the interaction in Mechanical? I will argue that the interaction elicits performative actions by the audience. I will contextualise this action through Sarah Rubidge’s ‘Performing installations’ (2009). These performative actions are enabled by the specific nature of the interactive system which I will contextualise through Simon Emmerson’s notion of meaningful response (2012; 2013). I will conclude that the specific nature of the interaction is characterised by the network formed by the system between audience members and the ‘bikes’, and the types of behaviour engaged in by the audience.