Two parts required special attention as we were finalizing the seismographs. Firstly, the paper roll in the seismograph rotates as one pedals. This is based on re-purposed parts from an old school mechanical speedometer, which is attached to the hub of the front wheel. Making the connection to the wheel needed to be smooth and secure, and as bicycles vary, some adjustments needed to be also made to the speedometer parts. Secondly, the speedometer cable, which transfers the movement of the front wheel to the seismograph, was attached to the seismograph’s reduction gear mechanism made of Fischertechnik parts. Again, we had to ensure that the gears were rotating flawlessly together. In the end of the day all the seismographs were working well. Few people even participated in Critical Mass the same night, so the seismographs went right away – successfully – through some endurance testing.
On the second day of the workshop, we made data gathering tours with the seismograph-bikes in order to reveal the micro-topography of Hamburg. The participants adopted different approaches. Three people went for a data gathering tour, which included marking the route on a map and corresponding data points on the seismograph paper roll. They also made additional road surface recordings by taking photos and making frottage art. Meanwhile, one participant stayed at the Fab Lab yard and drove – also very systematically – over obstacles of different height, and another participant modified his seismograph to move whimsically in all directions (not just up and down). Niklas, who was helping out with the workshop, was also building with one participant various GoPro mounts for making video documentation of the seismographs. In the end we all made a team tour together, admiring the harbour of Hamburg and eating ice cream.
The workshop outcomes were presented at the A/D/A festival exhibition – have a look at some photos. And if you want to make a bicycle seismograph yourself and enjoy bumpy rides, see these instructions!
The Bicycle Seismographs have also visited the Edinburg Festival of Cycling 2017. The video has been also shown at the Filmed By Bike festival (2017) in the US and at the City Mojo Film Festival (2017) in Perth, Australia. It is also part of the 13th International Cycling Film Festival (2018/19) selection.
Many thanks to the A/D/A festival organizers Alexandra Waligorski, Jeanne Charlotte Vogt and Axel Sylvester as well as the other invited artists for the great festival. Big thanks also for Niklas Roy for his inventive help with the workshop and for the most cheerful, enthusiastic and fun workshop participants Jan, Mira, Carina, Luke, Yan, Marie and Knut.