01.05 Bicycle Disassembly Assignment
Assignment Deliverables
30–45 Minute Ideation Sketching
Before cutting the bicycle apart, spend 30–45 minutes generating ideas through drawing.
Do not spend the entire time making one polished drawing. Make many quick sketches and allow one idea to lead to another.
Begin by drawing at least 10 quick possibilities. Then select several promising ideas and make more developed drawings showing how the sculpture might actually move.
Explore:
- What rotates?
- What stays stationary?
- What does the viewer touch?
- Where does the movement begin?
- How is movement transferred somewhere else?
- Could one wheel turn several other wheels?
- Could a wheel drive another wheel through friction?
- Could a belt connect two distant rotating parts?
- Could the headset become a pivot?
- Could the bottom bracket rotate something other than a bicycle wheel?
- What happens if bicycle components are duplicated or moved to unexpected locations?
- What happens if the sculpture is extremely tall, long, wide, unstable-looking, awkward, humorous, repetitive, or absurd?
Your sketches do not need to solve every fabrication problem. At this stage, prioritize possibilities. We will use fabrication, testing, and prototyping to determine what actually works.
Ideation Sketch Documentation
Document your sketches. Sketches may be scanned or photographed, but the final documentation should clearly show the drawings rather than the environment around them.
When photographing sketches:
- Place the paper on a flat surface.
- Use bright, even lighting.
- Avoid shadows across the page.
- Hold the camera directly above and parallel to the paper.
- Fill the image frame with the page.
- Keep the entire drawing in focus.
- Crop out unnecessary background.
- Correct rotation and perspective if necessary.
- Adjust exposure so the paper appears light and the drawing remains clearly visible.
A phone camera is sufficient when used carefully. Combine multiple pages into a clearly organized PDF or submit clean individual images.
Artist + Project References
These references approach bicycles in very different ways. Some retain the bicycle as a human-powered machine, while others use bicycle wheels, bearings, chains, frames, or other components as raw material for kinetic sculpture.
- Koichiro Azuma — especially relevant for large interactive sculptures constructed from discarded bicycles and fabricated steel. Koichiro Azuma — Works
- Jean Tinguely — kinetic machines built from wheels, belts, motors, scrap metal, and found mechanisms. Museum Tinguely — Jean Tinguely
- Marcel Duchamp — Bicycle Wheel demonstrates the bicycle wheel as both found object and freely rotating sculpture. MoMA — Bicycle Wheel
- Ai Weiwei — uses repeated bicycle forms to transform a familiar functional object into large-scale sculpture and installation. Hirshhorn — Forever Bicycles
- Diane Landry — motorized installations incorporating bicycle wheels, pulleys, timing belts, bearings, light, and other materials. Diane Landry — Knight of Infinite Resignation
- Nemo Gould — kinetic found-object machines useful for studying mechanisms, cranks, linkages, and imaginative reuse. Nemo Gould — Kinetic Sculpture
- Mark Grieve — co-creator of Cyclisk, a monumental sculpture made from hundreds of discarded bicycles. Cyclisk Public Art Project
- Ilana Spector — co-creator and fabricator of Cyclisk. Cyclisk Public Art Project
- Cyclecide — artist collective transforming junk bicycles into tall bikes, unusual vehicles, kinetic sculptures, and pedal-powered carnival rides. Cyclecide Bike Rodeo
- Chris Cole — kinetic sculptor who transforms salvaged bicycle and mechanical parts into moving creatures and machines. Chris Cole Designs
- Juan Martinez — articulated, rideable animal sculptures fabricated from bicycle components and metal. Juan Martinez — Sculpture Magazine
- Melissa Daubert — interactive kinetic sculpture incorporating bicycle parts, cranks, wheels, and audience activation. Melissa Daubert
- Alex Rodriguez / Dr. ARod — kinetic sculptures using bicycle wheels and components as rotating systems. Dr. ARod’s Art
- Patricia Vader — kinetic and public sculptures incorporating bicycle wheels and hubs. Patricia Vader — RA
- Jake Beckman — RotaFlora, a 34-foot sculpture fabricated from bicycle wheels. RotaFlora — Ohio Outdoor Sculpture
- Cindy Chinn — sculptures made from recycled bicycle tires, wheels, pedals, and other components, including kinetic works activated by pedals. Cindy Chinn — Re-Tired Artwork
- Rachel Dorn — combines discarded bicycle components with ceramic and mixed-media sculpture. Rachel Dorn — Bicycle Parts Sculpture
- Keith Bryant — combines bicycle components, sprockets, wood, glass, and found objects into mixed-media sculpture. Keith Bryant — Machinations of Sprockets and Wood
- Daria Wendland — large installations constructed from salvaged bicycle wheels. Daria Wendland — Abgefahren
- Norman Tuck — interactive kinetic sculpture using bicycle wheels, motors, chains, and deceptively simple mechanical systems. Norman Tuck — Lariat Chain
When looking at these references, do not concentrate only on what the finished sculpture looks like. Look at how motion is produced and transferred: wheels, axles, bearings, belts, chains, pulleys, cranks, friction, gravity, motors, and the body can all become sculptural materials.