forthcoming in Environment Space Place
Abstract. The paper seeks to explore theoretically the relation between space and inspiration. It reviews a series of places, institutions and situations in the light of the notion of inspiration-space, trying to clarify what is at stake in each of them. Inspiration is examined not only from the subjective point of view, but also more amply from a cultural point of view – that is, as a structuring social force. Selectively drawing testimonies from a range of creators, writers, and artists, and engaging in particular Gabriel Tarde’s social theory of imitation and invention and Simondon’s theory of transindividuality, the paper suggests some possible links between inspiration and everyday life, about their complementarity and intermingling.
