Bicycles seeking owners
“One warm night in the month of April, we took to the street loaded with lights to carry out our installation Bicycles seeking owners.
With it we were trying to motivate the people to use bicycles in their travels about the city, given that it constitutes a healthy and economical alternative to public transport which has just risen by an average of 11% and which in some cases has doubled in price; as well as being an effective way to diminish the environmental pollution that is increasingly worrying in regards to the health of the citizens of Madrid and for which The European Union is seriously threatening to sanction us.
To carry this out, we used the annoying street bollards, which we have already done on another occasion, we cannot avoid it, they are all too present in our life thanks to the use and abuse that city hall makes of them, in their endeavour to avoid holes through which cars can access the space reserved for pedestrians.
This time we turned them into a unique army of illuminated bicycles, that roamed the quiet streets of the city center, looking for someone who might be inclined to adopt and use them, proving to themselves, that even without a bike lane, you can travel easily, without disturbing pedestrians or disruptimg traffic.
And no matter how hard we try, in many areas of Madrid it is impossible to create a bike lane without invading pedestrian space or hindering the circulation of cars. We do not feel discouraged by that… there are some bicycle users, who are collaborating to create a map of the quiet streets through which you can travel without fear and enjoythe journey. They have served as an inspiration to us.
And, well, if in the end we did not manage to encourage people to take to the streets by bike, we hope that our invention has at least served as a seat for a short break on the way home.”
