a bicycle made for you
six micro-films in search of bike angels in Prague
An intimate film presentation on the back of a tandem
We made a new piece especially for the anti-car / pro-cycling festival auto*mat in Prague in September 2006. A bicycle made for you was a play on the song 'Daisy Bell' (better known as 'Daisy, Daisy') about falling in love on a tandem. plan b's red tandem was seen on the streets of Prague in the days leading up to the showing, recording video footage and gathering material for a special film presentation for one person at a time. The tandem was the basis for the piece, the research tool, the means of production as well as the cinema for the final presentation.
The spectator is greeted by one of us and led onto the tandem that is held stationary in a bike stand. The other performer is already on the front seat of the tandem, ready to go. Hanging on their back is a small screen. Our famous Ruby Headphones are given to the spectator and the film performance begins.
After a rendition of 'Daisy, Daisy', live from the front of the bike where our camera acts as live feed and also as the player for the pre-recorded material, the film slowly flickers into life as the spectator and performer pedal together (our dream of really using pedal power to power the film has not yet been realised). Mixing live camera work with pre-recorded material in this way, we play with the format of film and cycling. Harking back to the days when the moving image was a novelty, we use simple, pre-digital manipulations to take the spectator on an impossible journey through the streets of their own city as affected by the way one is pedalling. A speedy one-minute tour around the half-kilometre-long Wenceslas Square, as well as a slow backwards pedal for a mysterious sequence taken early in the morning on Charles Bridge take 'A bicycle made for you' away from a simple recreation of a tandem journey and into the magical realm that film on a bike can offer.
In our own personal mythology, 'Bike Angel' is our name for the people who put wood at the bottom of particularly high kerbs, create makeshift ramps, or break through nonsensical barriers, making the cyclists life smoother and easier. We also pick up bikes when they have fallen over, turn off bike lights and generally look out for other cyclists. As part of auto*mat's profile raising exercises in car-clogged Prague, they have also used the angel metaphor to great effect as can be seen on their web site here. We donned white rain capes, imitating the architectural angels of Prague, we held our pumps and bike locks as proudly as the wreaths and garlands they held.
A bicycle made for you was commissioned by Motus and Alfred ve Devore as part of the auto*mat festival, Prague, September 2006.