Episode 051: Forever
In which we discuss city traffic, freedom, and China.
We were in the city (aka NYC) recently, and man was it packed. At one point I frankly got a little freaked out. Just too many people. Too many cars, too many pushers and shovers, too many everythings.
But through it all, I saw people on bicycles. Darting in and out of traffic, jumping up on the sidewalks, then back down onto the street. I always feel that there's a little magic about bicycles in the city.
Our cousins who live in Graz, Austria have bicycles. They hardly ever take their car out. A lot less traffic there, though.
It may be a bit late for me to start thinking about becoming a bicycle rider, especially in the city. Broken bones are a virtual certainty. But wouldn't it be great, just zipping around, not worrying about being stuck in traffic jams?
Believe it or not, I have a favorite bicycle art: Ai Weiwei’s Forever series.
Lots. Of. Bicycles.
The image I'm using here is from Weiwei’s first bicycle sculpture in 2003. Though not part of the official series, which dates officially to 2008, it’s my favorite. It’s the beginning of the whole thing. The first time I could find a sculpture of his with repurposed bicycles.
But some of the later sculptures have really gotten out of hand. Here’s one with 760 bicycles. I mean, Forever Bicycles, 2014 has 1,254 bicycles.
Did I mention it was a lot of bicycles?
Some people don’t see the art. (“He just glued some old bicycles together, right?”) But looking deeper, he’s really commenting on Chinese society. Bikes might symbolize freedom and movement in China, but welding them together is a hell of a statement, no?
And also, they are gorgeous. To me, anyway. So, art.
Ooooh, music that sounds like riding a bicycle. This has been done before.
But hey, there’s been more than one song written about love, right? I mean, some estimates put that 100 Million love songs have been recorded. Definitely more love songs than bicycle songs.
So anyway, music about bicycles.
This has to be one of the happiest-sounding beats I’ve done for PC. Maybe the happiest. Usually dissonance = sad or scary, but not here I guess. Despite being in two different keys at the same time, it still comes across as happy to me.
While recording, I was imagining riding a bike in the city [as opposed to winding along a country road or speeding through the Tour de France], so it needed some grit. The whole track is overdriven, really hitting the board hard, lots of red lights. Not so bad that it becomes hard to listen to, but it gets the point across.
I don’t usually do a straight-up solo in these beats. But this one came fast, maybe a take or two. Old school West Coast hip-hop synth sound!
I work with a cat who rides his bicycle to work every day. Doesn't matter the weather. Unless it is actively snowing, he gets here on his bicycle.
Pouring rain? Fine.
10° outside? Great.
105°-in-the-shade in the middle of August? Even better.
He'll get to work and say things like ‘ooh it's a cold one out there’ or ‘hey, tough one today.’
I like to think of myself as someone who is dedicated to the things I do, but this is a little too next-level for me.
Until next week, thanks for reading Polyester City. If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment by clicking the link above. If you know anyone who likes Music and Art and Stories [and extreme biking, if that’s a thing?], which is pretty much everyone, please consider sharing by clicking the link below.
One of the only(?) good things about the summer of 2020 was that my work schedule changed, and could ride my bike to work. Kinda surreal driving through a mostly empty town, but also kinda nice.
Love Ai Wei Wei. Ha, I've used this bicycle sculpture image in presentations taking about "interconnectedness". The west coast synth solo sounds fantastic!