Bikes Make Dresden
Dresden, the capital of the German state Saxony, is a bike-friendly place: flat, with efficient infrastructure. Locals are making good use of it, and so the bikes form an integral part of the city's vital culture.
"Bikes Make Dresden" is an installation artwork representing the cycling contribution to the city in a literal sense: It forms a downtown map of Dresden entirely out of locally used and discarded bicycle tires. Different tire widths correspond with the streets' hierarchy, and the river that flows through the city, Elbe, is marked by an exposed blue puncture-protecting belt.
100x130 cm (c .40x51 in)
Roughly 1:2000 map scale
Rubber, 2018
The "Bikes Make Dresden" was created during the 21st International Dresden Summer Academy for Visual Arts and subsequently exhibited in the Motorenhalle Gallery, Dresden, 4-18. August 2018.
The artwork was then acquired by a local bicycle store, and used to promote the 22nd installment of the Academy.
Later, the piece was featured during:
- EGU22 General Assembly (Austria Center Vienna, AT, 23–27 May 2022)
- AGU22 Fall Meeting ArtScience Exhibit (McCormick Place, Chicago, US + online, 12–16 Dec 2022).
Read more about the making of this artwork and my experience of Dresden.
