Belén Fernández

Downloaded! is an interactive installation that investigates how instinct, cognitive bias, and collective behaviour shape decision-making in the digital age. Visitors respond to shape-based prompts, making simple visual choices that are processed through a system to generate evolving, animal-like forms.

Each decision doesn’t stand alone, it subtly alters the environment for the next user, creating an accumulative system where personal instincts influence group behaviour. Rooted in psychology, systems theory, and behavioral design, the project examines how digital and physical infrastructures, like in this case residencial spaces; can nudge individual decisions, revealing the hidden feedback loops that shape human behaviour.

Developed and exhibited at the Tate Modern as part of a residency, the project reflects on our reliance on heuristics, the impact of design on instinct, and the possibility of nurturing long-term, community-oriented thinking through carefully crafted interactions.