The more precisely we try to recreate the natural, the further we drift from it – without letting it go.
Overengineered is an interactive sound sculpture centered on a constructed tree made of PVC pipe loops and coiled speaker cable. Rather than imitating a natural organism, the structure operates as an electromagnetic antenna, continuously emitting layered signals into its surrounding, creating an invisible and spatially dynamic field.
Visitors are invited to explore this field using handheld electromagnetic pickups. As they move through space, fluctuations in signal intensity are revealed as sound, transforming proximity and movement into a form of play. Each pickup carries its own sonic character rather than all pickups sensing signals in the same way, turning the tree into a distributed instrument that is navigated rather than directly controlled.
The work stems from a simple premise: what happens when we attempt to build something that already exists? In trying to reconstruct the natural through technical means, the result becomes overengineered – no longer a tree, yet still holding onto its image. Overengineered lies where reconstruction turns into transformation, and where an object designed to replicate instead casting its own agency.
The sculpture was premiered at the Röstibrücke Symposium 2026 in Zürich, Switzerland.
Credits:
Concept & Music – Sébastien Vaillancourt
Photos – Dorota Grajewska
Links:
@roestibruecke
@dorota.grajewska
