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News & ArtsTuesday, February 24, 2009
Visual Art Artist Racks
Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 1:10 PM
The Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) seeks an artist or artist team to design on-street bicycle parking. The selected artist will work with SDOT staff to design, fabricate and install bicycle parking at two to four on-street locations in the city.The call for artists is open to professional artists who live in Washington state. The total budget for design, fabrication and installation is $30,000. The application deadline is 11 p.m., Monday, April 13. A link to the online application and guidelines is available at www.seattle.gov/arts.
Artist-designed bicycle parking is a product of the SDOT Art Plan. On-street bicycle parking responds to an expanding need for bicycle parking and is part of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan, which aims to triple the number of people bicycling over 10 years.
The on-street bike racks will fill one or two motor vehicle parking spaces. Each car-sized space will accommodate up to eight bikes.
For more information about the project, contact Vaughn Bell, SDOT art and enhancement project manager, at vaughn.bell@seattle.gov or (206) 733-9960.
2
Why don't we use some of those rocks they have sitting under the University Street Bridge that obstruct us from using the Wall of Death?
They'd make great art bike racks if we stacked them and glued them together with global-warming-creating cement.
They'd make great art bike racks if we stacked them and glued them together with global-warming-creating cement.
3
This. Is. In. Sane.
$30,000 should buy bike racks for about 1,000 locations, and the call goes only to professional artists, right. moochers. we need bike riding and we need the bike racks up everywhere NOW. This is a perfect example of why too many Americans today don't trust government to spend any money, on anything.
Not to mention that $80K a year bureacrats will spend hours (a) writing the guidelines (b) "reviewing" the designs (c) getting public input and (d) responding to angry public calls and going on KUOW to patiently explain why it is all so reasonable.
If you want arty bike frames just copy what they have in Oslo or Amsterdam, I am sure they will let us do so.
$30,000 should buy bike racks for about 1,000 locations, and the call goes only to professional artists, right. moochers. we need bike riding and we need the bike racks up everywhere NOW. This is a perfect example of why too many Americans today don't trust government to spend any money, on anything.
Not to mention that $80K a year bureacrats will spend hours (a) writing the guidelines (b) "reviewing" the designs (c) getting public input and (d) responding to angry public calls and going on KUOW to patiently explain why it is all so reasonable.
If you want arty bike frames just copy what they have in Oslo or Amsterdam, I am sure they will let us do so.
4
http://www.bikeparking.com/pdf_files/pri…
I exagerated. $29,700 buys about 66 bike racks in the wavy u shape, about $450 each, each holding about 9 bikes.
I suggest we buy those, then mount framed prints of Picasso's "hands holding flowers" to get the art part.
Or stick a plastic flower on top of each one.
I exagerated. $29,700 buys about 66 bike racks in the wavy u shape, about $450 each, each holding about 9 bikes.
I suggest we buy those, then mount framed prints of Picasso's "hands holding flowers" to get the art part.
Or stick a plastic flower on top of each one.
5
PC, you're budgeting thirty bucks per location on that 30K. That wouldn't cover the cost of the crew driving to a location and back, much less the cost of the steel and fabrication. Have you considered work for Tim Eyman?
7
I don't like this "up to eight" language. What's the minimum number of bikes we can expect to see for $30,000? One? That would be awful.
8
Why the hell are they seeking an "artist" when they could go consult for an hour or two with an industrial designer, who might suggest taking the (terribly non-artistic) step of actually trying to lock bikes to the damn things?
For instance, the wavy u-shaped rack is one of the worst designs out there and does not hold anywhere close to nine bikes. Four maybe. Its lameness is only exceeded by the spiral rack offered further down the page.
The car shaped one on capitol hill, while maybe tacky, is a good design and will hold eighteen bikes without many problems.
For instance, the wavy u-shaped rack is one of the worst designs out there and does not hold anywhere close to nine bikes. Four maybe. Its lameness is only exceeded by the spiral rack offered further down the page.
The car shaped one on capitol hill, while maybe tacky, is a good design and will hold eighteen bikes without many problems.
9
Only professional artists? Kinda lame. Wouldn't it make sense to add "avid bicycle rider" as a qualification? Because bicycle riders know what works and what doesn't. There is no guarantee that artists creations will be fully practical. I've seen bicycle racks that looks like CARS even ... fucking annoying, ugly, and awkward to use. Not to mention insulting.
We doomed.
We doomed.
10
I agree w/ other commenters that this is a totally insane idea. Engineers, not artists, should make bike racks, as evidenced by the completely unfunctional "artistic" racks artists have already made for this and other cities that are impossible to use.
Any cyclist will tell you that all we need is a freaking old-fashioned functional rack—no fuss, no flair—and lots of them.
Plus 90 percent of the cyclists riding hipster bikes have no clue how to lock their bikes to a standard bike rack, making it inconvenient for other cyclists who do know how to lock a bike properly. Please don't introduce a new challenge for these U-lock struggling saps.
Any cyclist will tell you that all we need is a freaking old-fashioned functional rack—no fuss, no flair—and lots of them.
Plus 90 percent of the cyclists riding hipster bikes have no clue how to lock their bikes to a standard bike rack, making it inconvenient for other cyclists who do know how to lock a bike properly. Please don't introduce a new challenge for these U-lock struggling saps.
11
As public administrator and regular bike commuter (not an uncommon combination) must say this is complete waste of money for a problem that's already been solved.
There's a Seattle based company, Creative Metalworks, that the city's already worked with to re-purpose old parking meter posts.
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bi…
Besides nyc held design competition last year, which sounded fine until David Byrne as a judge decided to enter his own creations.
There's a Seattle based company, Creative Metalworks, that the city's already worked with to re-purpose old parking meter posts.
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/bi…
Besides nyc held design competition last year, which sounded fine until David Byrne as a judge decided to enter his own creations.
12
publicadminstrator @11: Nice link. I remember when Nickels said he was going to repurpose parking meters into bike racks and I assumed there would be hundreds of these. I've seen maybe half-a-dozen. Typical empty rhetoric from our "green mayor".
13
This is the most amazing idea this department has had in the past 8 years (and maybe at any time). It's too much to expect them to figure out how to do it well - we just need to support them for having the idea at all. Baby steps. Kudos to SDOT!
14
Well, to spite all you little libertarian stranger bloggers, I entered this competition this afternoon.
As an artist, I feel its my duty to waste as much public money as possible- after all, we artists have a long way to go to catch up with the defense department, farm subsidies, tax breaks for the rich, and so on.
So I am currently scheming a way to build a bike rack that will hold half a bike. Well, maybe thats too practical- how about a quarter of a bike?
And if I get the gig, I will be sure to send in a picture of myself mooning all you righteous taxpayers wearing the new mink boxer shorts I buy with my outrageous profits.
As an artist, I feel its my duty to waste as much public money as possible- after all, we artists have a long way to go to catch up with the defense department, farm subsidies, tax breaks for the rich, and so on.
So I am currently scheming a way to build a bike rack that will hold half a bike. Well, maybe thats too practical- how about a quarter of a bike?
And if I get the gig, I will be sure to send in a picture of myself mooning all you righteous taxpayers wearing the new mink boxer shorts I buy with my outrageous profits.
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