The chapter by Swedish writers Bodil Axelsson and Karin Becker analyses Sound Machine, a collaborative contemporary art project that was developed integrally with university activities in research and teaching.  This interface opened up the rare possibility of participant research into the work processes of a well-known European collaborative artist, Esther Shalev-Gerz. The researchers trace different modes of engagement with participating non-artist subjects - such as the women who provide 'cultural memory' of earlier forms of work and engagement with technology - as well as other forms of participation essential for Sound Machine's conceptual, technical and institutional development.