Brooklyn, NY/August 21, 2012—The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) unveils two new bike racks today designed especially for the institution by musician, artist, and urban biking enthusiast David Byrne (Bicycle Diaries, Viking 2009). An expansion of safe biking initiatives at BAM sponsored by Con Edison, the bright blue David Byrne Bike Racks were manufactured by Dero Bike Racks and are made up of an interchangeable system of components which form letters and words.
“What a thrill to be invited to design more bike racks for NYC,” says Byrne. “I get to BAM fairly often, and the existing racks are often full, so it’s great that there will now be more. When designing these bike racks, I wondered how I could make something thatwasmodular,yetvariable—adesignthatwouldn’talwayslookthe same and could vary depending on season and placement. I realized that a few very basic shapes—a semi circle, a line, and a V shape—would allow one to make a good percentage of the letters of our alphabet. With help and advice from Dero Bike Racks, we figured out how these components could be easily and quickly swapped out to spell different words. For example, the letters could spell out the productions at BAM or any random message for that matter.”
The racks’ initial letters, chosen by Byrne for their appearance, form the words “pink crown” and “micro lip.” As the rack elements do not allow for the creation of all letters, a special “David Byrne Bike Rack alphabet” has been created for the project. Following the unveiling, BAM will reach out via social media to its audience and local community to solicit suggestions for additional letters and words to be used for the ever evolving installation. The David Byrne Bike Racks will be stationed outside BAM’s main building at 30 Lafayette Street—the Peter Jay Sharp Building—which houses the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé.
“BAM is at the center of a neighborhood that is brimming with bike activity and as we look toward the opening of the new BAM Fisher building, we are excited to offer these additional racks to our audience and the community,” says BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins. “We would like to acknowledge Con Edison for their generous support and of course our friend David Byrne. As with all of our programs, we want everything connected with BAM to reflect our creative spirit and the David Byrne Bike Racks are in perfect alignment with that philosophy.”
