:: busycle ::
rides saturday 6.3 :: the steel yard :: 6-8p
storytelling by the campfire- bring a blanket to sit on!
website www.busycle.com
The Busycle, a 15 person pedal powered bus, is taking its first U.S. Story Telling Tour. The traveling public art piece will start in Boston, and, hauled by a bio-diesel vehicle, will end in San Francisco at the City|Space “Get on the Bus” exhibition. Between, the Busycle will visit cities throughout the country and collect the stories of the people who pedal it. On June 3, the Buscycle will come to the Steel Yard to take part in the Provflux festivities.
In cities across the U.S., the Busycle will travel neighborhoods, where anyone willing to pull their weight and pedal can be a Busycle passenger. At the end of the route, a story telling space will be constructed (in places ranging from parks to warehouses to galleries), where everyone has the option of being a participant. And just as the Busycle doesn’t run without the pedaling, this venue doesn’t run without the contribution of stories. It’ll be an urban play on the campfire as the traditional space for story telling and stories will be collected on video and shared across the country and on our website.
The Busycle requires individuals to use their own will and physical strength to come together as a group to go from point A to B. By bringing the intersection of art and activism to the street, the Busycle asks the public to participate in a small “movement,” and have a heck of a good time in the process.
The storytelling aspect of the event is really an extension of the unique dialogue that occurs between strangers as they pedal. The Busycle does not presume to be an answer to major ecological or socioeconomic questions, nor does it attempt to be a practical technology. What it does do is serve as the antithesis to the “top down” approach that leaves so many in the margins and, ultimately, has put us in our current predicament. The majority of the vehicle’s construction uses recycled material most of which would have been considered trash by a less astute observer and it’s pedaled by anyone who is willing. It is everything that “top down” is not.The majority of the vehicle’s construction uses recycled material most of which would have been considered trash by a less astute observer and it’s pedaled by anyone who is willing. It is everything that “top down” is not.
about the artists
The Buscyle was created by Boston-based artists Heather Clark and Matthew Mazzotta, and has grown from the ideas and sweat of over 50 volunteers. The majority of the vehicle’s construction uses recycled material most of which would have been considered trash by a less astute observer and it’s pedaled by anyone who is willing. It is everything that “top down” is not.
The Busycle is supported by the Berwick Research Institute, MIT Council for the Arts, LEF Foundation, Mass Cultural Council, Boston Art Commission, and Fund for Boston Neighborhoods.
