After completing the Dada Rode a Bicycle/MoMA Was a Peddler kinetic sculpture series, I wanted to work in a new direction, but still pursue bicycle inspired ideas concerning body amplification. With the financial help from a 1998 Pollock-Krasner International Artist’s Award, I was able to push my explorations into the audio/electronic realm of sound sculpture. Exhibit A: An electronic harp made from four bicycle wheels, using the performer’s mouth shape to electronically control the tonal envelope of the amplified, plucked spoke signal. Exhibit B: An electronic drum circle with 30 bike seats, using an elaborate MIDI system, which plays sampled sounds when struck. Exhibit C: A voice organ, fashioned from bicycle pumps, and coupled to an electronic wind synthesizer, which plays pre-recorded, amplified confessions of an artist’s professional ambitions, through cycle-analysis!

 

Just Like Riding a Bike