2021 Exhibition
36. Canopy
Mask Required Within the Art Installation Zone (Regardless of Vaccination Status). Social Distancing Encouraged. Hand Sanitizer Available.
Artist Information
Canopy is an interactive art installation that invites its visitors to power their own experience with bike-driven generators. As participants pedal the tree-like sculptures will illuminate, spin, and inflate in time with their efforts. Inspired by ‘Crown Shyness’, a phenomena wherein a grove of trees grows together to create a continuous canopy while never overcrowding, the individual sculptural pieces of Canopy reach together at full inflation to create a luminous net of color that stretches over both bikers and onlookers to unify the space through collective play. Canopy instigates a collaborative process of placemaking, in enacting the image of a stand of trees the piece places ecological vitality in parallel to social and artistic vibrancy. Some of the canopies are powered by not one but two bicycles, emphasizing collaboration while also incorporating smaller bicycles for children. This mirrors a healthy grove where trees of all ages share energy and nutrients and the vitality of the individuals is made possible through that of the group. We hope that Canopy can inspire an excitement for sustainability that our visitors can carry into their lives and the communities they call home!
Visit the Artwork on our map here: https://dlectricity.com/map/#36.
Pneuhaus
Pneuhaus is an art and design studio dedicated to integrating experiences of nature and its wonders into the contemporary city. Working primarily in textile-based inflatable sculptures and experiential environments, the collective builds on the visionary legacy of inflatable architecture’s history by centering a utopian edge in creating spaces for social joy and collaboration. Their design process deeply engages the intrinsic qualities of their materials to evolve forms that harmoniously express their physical and dynamic nature. Fascinated by physics and the energetic properties that hold things together, the studio’s work incorporates the lessons of nature in both form and function. Pneuhaus has created twenty-nine large scale public commissions for clients like NASA, the City of Boston, and Bloomberg. They have exhibited nationally and been published internationally. Their piece the Compound Camera won the Core77 Built Environment Award, and the group was awarded the Arthur Loeb Emergent Design Science Professional Award. Driven by a spirit of experimentation, Pneuhaus is constantly extending their practice to new materials, methods, and inspirations. Dedicated to a sustainable future, the group innovates structures that incite maximal glee with minimal mass.
https://www.pneu.haus/
Bike Powered Events
Bike Powered Events harnesses stationary bikes to create fun, engaging events that generate electricity, collaboration, and well-being for all ages. We've been bringing pedal power to offices, neighborhoods, festivals, and schools nationwide since 2009. Our activities are 100% pedal-powered and range from amplifying sound systems to mixing smoothies, churning ice cream, and spin art.
bikepoweredevents.com