Inés Ballesteros (Spain) and Michela Dal Brollo (Italy) have collaborated since 2019 as a duo of site-specific artists and researchers. Their interdisciplinary practice merges public space interventions, ecological theories, sustainable design and anthropology. Through their project Living Equipment: Portable Spaces, they craft conceptual and relational tools from recycled or natural materials. These tools serve as mediums for field research and foster connections in public spaces, emphasizing sustainability, collaboration, and adaptability. Their research is based on developing methodologies that respond to local dynamics and inspire dialogue between people, places, and ecosystems. Their designs are inspired by nomadic vernacular equipment from different geographies. Nomadic principles are central to their approach, exploring how mobility can foster sustainable relationships with diverse socio-spatial ecosystems.
In rural environments, they apply those principles by collecting and researching edible wild herbs and their various uses such as dyes or the production of bioplastics or paper. In urban contexts, this applies to mapping land resources as where to find materials and food leftovers or liminal urban spaces for collective uses.
