Sleeping bicycle
Location: Gebouw f, Breda, the Netherlands
Period: 18-11-2005 to 08-01-2006
Showing from 11.00h to 23.00h
Description
This installation was produced for the KUS (Kunst Uit de Stad - Art from the city) festival in Breda. The concept for the festival was to let current artists comment on older works from the town collection. I chose the work Vouwfiets (folding bike) by Pieter van Unen (1988). The work, for me, oozed everyday mystery and I wanted visualize some of the questions the work brought to mind.
The installation was situated in a shop-window and consists of the original work - a blank canvas with a folding bike mounted on the back, a computer with custom software, a webcam and a beamer attached to it. The new work was beamed onto the empty canvas. During the day the webcam would register movement of passers by and take a picture that was stored on the harddrive. Passers by would see an animation of circles as they went by which is reminiscent of a target. As the evening fell and it got dark a circle shaped video would start. The video showed a bicycle ride around the centre of the city, starting and ending at the gallery. The 20 minute video went on in an endless loop. The webcam pictures taken six hours earlier during the day were displayed in a semi transparent animation which overlay the video. The exact time the picture was taken was also displayed over the video. As if during sleep the day was digested and the caged bikes' dream of riding came true.
Technique
Hardware: Windows PC, webcam, beamer
Webcam software: ConquerCam
Custom program is made with Adobe Flash MX 2004 professional