hr |
en

Home MBZ stories Sonic bikes by Kaffe Matthews – photo story

Sonic bikes by Kaffe Matthews – photo story

Sonic bikes by Kaffe Matthews – photo story

In 2013, together with her colleague Dave Griffiths, the musician and composer Kaffe Matthews founded The Bicrophonic Research Institute (BRI) in London, which annually produces several site-specific music projects in collaboration with national and foreign producers and organizations. The result of nearly ten years of work and a multitude of projects, today a part of the BRI’s artistic offer, is the sonic bicycle.

Every sonic bicycle is shaped according to the geographic location, its acoustic environment and pedaling speed, that is, its driver.

Kaffe Matthews, author of the concept.

In case of the 30th MBZ, the bicycle has been additionally upgraded and enriched with of our region’s acoustic image.

The sonic bicycle is a bicycle with two speakers mounted at the front, and a GPS receiver and Raspberry Pi computer at the back.

The Zagreb version of the sonic bicycle to be used at the 30th MBZ was created in collaboration with the students of the Vocational School for Personal Services, who spent a week in a workshop with Kaffe Matthews, shaping various sounds, talking and reading poetry, in order to subsequently create a sound base for this year's Biennale sonic bicycle.

Depending on the location and the pedaling rate, the sonic bicycle plays selected, suitable sounds, transforming the open space of the city or a smaller area, along with its socio-political context and architecture, into an open concert hall which gathers its audience at every step or, better said, every turn of the wheel.

After the opening ceremony that will be held on April 4 at 6 PM in the Greta Gallery, a certain number of bicycles will be exhibited and available for use at the same location every day from 11 AM to 7 PM until the end of the 30th MBZ. Visitors will be able to rent a sonic bicycle for a ride on a pre-devised 45-minute route.