MOON RIDE

at the
MACHINE-RAUM BIENNALE VEJLE, DK
November 10 2007
  
  
  

Every step in the pedals is transformed into electric energy that lights up a big balloon. In the dark sky the bolloon can be seen from far.

Moon Ride is a sensory encounter with the myths and rites of our light-and-sound-dominated e-culture. At the same time, it is a minimalist reflection of our electronic world that makes visible the charging and discharging processes inherent in everyday life. Participants form a mighty human battery to combine their output as individuals. This confluence, this visual fusion of the physical exertions of many, brings about a communal experience borne by the pure joy of taking part in a physical act of power and making an oversized source of light glow like a supernova. This is a form of electronic-industrial mass-level gratification whose climax is the final illumination of the balloon.

MOON RIDE
at the
ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL SIMPLICITY
SEPTEMBER 1 2006

In the evening of September 1 2006 there was a long collective performance on the Hauptplatz (Main Square) of Linz. People hooked up their bicycles on one of the dozens of generators to provide the muscle power necessary to charge a giant battery. Each revolution of every set of pedals moved the battery charge indicator a little closer to full. In the evening, the stored energy was used to light up a giant balloon floating above the city. At a certain time in the night, the cyclists' output was switched directly to the balloon: the harder they pedaled, the brighter the artificial moon.

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photo by REGINE / Video by Assocreation

Although their first set up of Moon Ride was quite poetic, the artists moaned that commonly available inverter technologies made their installation a failure, if measured by the standards of SIMPLICITY. That's why they developed an analogue inverter. Using energy efficiant light bulbs, eight cyclers are sufficiant to power the artificial moon, as it was realized at the Machine-RAUM festval 2007.