initiative Archives - Page 3 of 9

03/08/201903/10/2019

We established a Feminist New Materialisms Special Interest Group at Griffith Uni

The theoretical framing I am using for my bicycle-education PhD is feminist New Materialisms (fNM). Actually, it is more than just a philosophical perspective and as a doctoral researcher, I have to understand this ethico-onto-epistemological approach super well in order to apply it to my PhD.

I am lucky that my supervisor Dr Sherilyn Lennon is already immersed in this field and has been an invaluable resource and guide in unpacking FNM complexities.

In a recent meeting, I said to Sherilyn that I wanted/needed more time to process and experiment with fNM approaches. I asked her if there was any academic Special Interest Groups (SIG) she knew that I could join. She had been part of an informal fNM SIG previously, but it had disbanded due to lack of official support. So, the opportunity and need was there to establish an official fNM reading/discussion group at Griffith Uni.

Success! We now have an official FNM SIG at Griffith!

Sherilyn is my convenor mentor. We applied to Griffith Institute of Educational Research (GIER) for support and were successful.

What did we do at the first fNM SIG?

We plan to start with a monthly reading and discussion group and then see what organically happens as opportunities present and requests are made.

Our first meeting was on Thursday 1st August 2019 and we had 12 attendees.

The first meeting was semi-structured with the discussion focus being: The emergence of feminist New Materialisms.

The two stimulus resources were:

Reading: Pierre, E. S. (2014). A brief and personal history of post qualitative research: Toward “post inquiry”. Journal of curriculum theorizing, 30(2).
Podcast: Click on link to access audio. New materialism by Karen Sellberg. Number 11. April 2016. Queensland School of Continental Philosophy.

We started with a welcome and an introduction of attendees: name, connection to Uni and how we plugged into fNM – and an acknowledgment that ‘matter matters’ to set the scene.

We wanted to keep the discussion open to whatever came up, so we had three questions (traffic light ) for people to think about and write their answers down on coloured post-its. Teachers call this a ‘think, pair, share’ activity, which is great because everyone contributes individual ideas to the collective discussion.

Here are our traffic (green = enabling, yellow= interesting, red =constraining) light questions and responses.

Red responses
Orange responses
Green responses
‘Traffic light’ questions

Then we formed smaller groups to share and discuss our answers – and whatever else bubbled up.

Each group discussed different aspects and ideas.

We put all the stick notes on the wall to create a gallery walk so we could pass by and read other people’s thoughts and ideas. It was a way to see what other groups discussed and it was super interesting to see what other people were wrestling with.

Sherilyn pulled one idea off the wall for the whole group to discuss in more detail.

The time went so quick!

Sherilyn and I wanted the meeting to honour central fNM tenets – like being open to change and what emerges in a moment. I also really like the idea of not just discussing ideas, but also actively and collaboratively producing something original (gallery wall) that did not exist before.

It is very FNM to recognise and (re)produce matter that can only be created in that very particular ‘entangled’ moment made up of the room, ideas, bodies, histories, location, identities, artefacts, concepts and all the other processes and practices that made the meeting what it was.

The meeting was a great start and we got very positive feedback.

It will take a few meetings to get into the groove, but I like having a semi-structured activity (with an collective production) that can then opened up and modified as the groups see fit.

We will be having one meeting each month for the rest of 2019 and I am very much looking forward to it!

A massive big thank you to all the participants and to GIER for their support.

Overview of feminist New Materialisms

Over the past 20 years, New Materialism has become an umbrella term used to represent a range of theoretical perspectives that share the re-turn to a focus on matter. It is an emerging theoretical field that encompasses four main streams: Speculative Realism, Object-oriented ontology (OOO), Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and feminist New Materialisms (fNM).

In the last 15 years in particular, fNM have gained considerable attention as a consequence of a unique approach to considering the agency of all matter. In using such understandings habitual human-centric ways of thinking, doing and being are disrupted as an ethico-onto-epistemological approach emerges. This approach is capable of bringing together multiple disciplines as it redistributes agency through material, discursive and affective forces.

European Universities (in particular Utrecht Uni which has a New Materialism Research Centre) have enthusiastically adopted fNM and are currently the most active researchers in the field. While Australia has a growing pool of fNM scholars, a similar uptake is yet to be seen here. This is surprising considering that the movement has been primarily driven by a number of internationally-celebrated Australian feminist scholars including Rosi Braidotti, Elizabeth Grosz, Claire Colebrook, Vicki Kirby, Bronwyn Davies and Jane Kenway.

As an emerging methodology, fNM is being taken prominently in the field of educational research. Those working in this field are contributing significant insights while laying the foundations for a profound shift in the way we come to understand educational issues, teacher education, and professional and educational practice-based learning.

At Griffith, we have a number of academics working with ANT, but few engaging with fNM. My supervisor, Dr Sherilyn Lennon, is publishing in this space and I am using feminist New Materialist thinking in my PhD. Given the excitement and emerging nature of this way of thinking, a fNM SIG at Griffith University provides an opportunity to directly engage in the discussion and lead a feminist New Materialist Research Group that will brings together PhD Candidates, academics from Griffith and other institutions, scholars and interested parties to more deeply, critically, creatively and actively engage with fNM. The field of FNM is still being chartered. This makes it an emergent and dynamic space in which to be researching.

The aim of this fNM SIG is to:

To build a vibrant and productive community of FNM researchers and professionals who cross-pollinate ideas while growing new research projects
To participate and contribute in this emergent theoretical field
To bring together researchers with trans-disciplinary and cross-institutional knowledge as a means of creating hybrid rigour
To support GU HDR candidates who are using FNM thinking
To grow research, researchers and research practices and networks
Establish Griffith/GIER as active in the FNM space
Leverage and extend Australian feminist scholarship

12/12/201810/01/2019

Thank you to The Sunshine Family for my recycled bike artist workshop!

Artist Studio. Creative Workshop. Innovation Space. Art & Design Workroom. Conceptual Atelier.

Call it what you will.

Having a designated space to produce original creative work is a blessing.

Most artists I know have some kind of space to produce work, leave out their tools, percolate ideas and have room to let their creative juices flow.

Very few people who are not full-time artists (with the exception of retirees and empty-nesters) are lucky to have such a space.

Personally, I’ve never had such a space.

Until recently….

Thankyou to The Sunshine Family for my recycled bike art workshop! Bicycles Create Change.com. 12th Dec, 2018.

This year I have been working hard juggling teaching, PhDing and a range of other projects. I like to have one creative project on the go to help keep me balanced.

One of my ongoing side projects has been making custom-made recycled bottle cap medallions made only of recycled materials.

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with them.

I make them out of bottle caps filled with predominately bicycle inner tubes and bike parts, but also miscellaneous materials, discarded paper, buttons, board game pieces, broken jewellery and any other manner of opp-shop or scrap bits-and-bobs.

I love how meditative the process is. I often will set aside a few hours, pull out all my gear, have a beer, put on some good music and settle in for a crafternoon session.

I’ve been making these medallions for nearly two years now and have quite a collection.

I use them for lots of things.

In February, the medallions were Eco-Excellence Awards for the Bio-Bike roving performance Claire Tracey and I did for the Sustainable Living Festival (Melbourne, VIC).

Then in June, after completing The Art of Looping Workshop Intensive, each Looping participant was presented with a Looper Award of Excellence.

When I make them, I sometimes set up a ‘crafternoon’ workstation out the front of my house under the carport. I love working outside and the neighbors often drop in to say hi and see what designs I’m working on that day.

Invariably they’ll leave with a medallion that takes their fancy.

It still makes me smile when I see my recycled bicycle medallions on hats, coats and bags being worn around my community.

There’s a running joke around our streets that the locals are ‘supporting the arts’ by drinking beer and giving me the caps. Hilarious!

I often come home to find small bags of bottle caps in my letterbox or on the front steps. Gold.

Thank you to The Sunshine Family

But one particular family have gone above and beyond.

Four months ago, a family (who I’ll call The Sunshine Family because they asked to remain anonymous, but you know who you are!) offered me the use of their double-fronted shed as a designated art workshop until the end of the year.

Oh joy!

What an offer!

Hells yeah!

It is a massive, clean space and had everything I might ever need.

Having this studio meant I could have all my gear set out and ready to go.

I got so many more medallions done when I was in there.

Talk about productive!

Whenever I had the time, I’d get in there and easily smash out 50 medallions at a time.

One of the best (and most unique) features of this space is the double-fronted garage doors rolled up to look out on the private backyard.

So when all the local musos came over for the weekly jam session, I had a primo position to enjoy the tunes, banter and company!

Best studio ever!

But now it is the end of the year, so its time pack up my materials and return the shed.

This post is to say thank you to the Sunshines.

Thank you for letting me use the space so I know what it feels like to have a designated creative workspace, for the wonderful offer, for good company, for trusting me, for ‘supporting the arts’ and for giving me my first-ever studio space! I will treasure your thoughtfulness and generosity always.

To The Sunshine Family, a massive big, heart-felt THANK YOU!

07/12/201801/01/2019

E-bike donated to cycling first-responder in recognition for saving 2,500 people

While researching how bicycles are used in communities in the Middle East, I came across this story from Israel about Meir Farkash. Farkash has been using his own bicycle as a volunteer bicycle emergency (EMS) responder in Ramat Hasharon (a coastal city located south of Tel Aviv).

I love this story because it showcases how positive one person on a bike can be in a community. I love that Meir is a student, a volunteer, that he has been so incredibly effective at saving lives as a bicycle emergency first-responder, and that now he is somewhat of a community icon as he makes his way around town. What a wonderful example of how cyclists can make significant positive community change. This story was first published in Israel Rescue. Enjoy, NG.

E-bike donated to cycling first-responder in recognition for saving 2,500 people. Bicycles Create Change.com. 7th Dec, 2018. — Image: Israel Rescue

Ramat Hasharon Hesder Yeshiva Student, Meir Farkash (25), is known to be the pinnacle lifesaver of his city. Over the past four years in which Farkash has been a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, Farkash has responded to more than 2,500 emergency calls.

Among his myriad of emergency calls, more than 300 have been life-threatening. What’s even more impressive is that Farkash has responded to all of these calls on his personal bicycle.

In honor of his continued dedication to saving lives, United Hatzalah has given the active volunteer a first response e-bicycle that was donated to the organization for him by the residents of the city to honor Farkash’s selfless work.

Over the past four years, Meir Farkash has become somewhat of a local celebrity in Ramat Hasharon. The image of him pedaling through the streets in order to rush to a scene and save someone’s life is residents of that many residents have come to know and support.

“Today there are lots of people who say hello to me as I pass them on response e-bicycle. I say hello back. I have come to know many residents, and residents of me, through the EMS activities that I undertake and the calls that I respond to,” said Farkash.

The day before Farkash received the bicycle, he saved the life of one of the city’s citizens. He was dispatched to the car of a known lawyer from the city who had lost consciousness while he was with his family. Farkash, who arrived in just moments with his bicycle, began CPR and help resuscitate the man with the Intensive Care ambulance team that arrived at the scene. Farkash joined the ambulance team in transporting the patient to the hospital, and the man was released a few days later, alive and well enough to go home.

When asked if he knew the total number of lives he has saved, Farkash said:

I have never really thought about it. Now that you mention it, it gives me a really good feeling. Truth be told, even calls that are more general and do not involve a life being saved per se, they too give me and other volunteers a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that we helped somebody who needed us.

In every case we respond to, you meet a person who is incapable of helping themselves at that moment. You help them, you comfort them and you make sure they receive the best care that they can. That is the job of being a first responder. It’s not about the glory, it’s about helping people.”

When asked if he knew the total number of lives he has saved, Farkash said that: “I have never really thought about it. Now that you mention it, it gives me a really good feeling. Truth be told, even calls that are more general and do not involve a life being saved per se, they too give me and other volunteers a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that we helped somebody who needed us.

It’s not about the glory, it’s about helping people. Meir Farkash.

09/11/201821/11/2018

Vipassana

I’ve just returned from my first 10-day silent Vipassana meditation course.

Lots of people have heard of Vipassana meditation. Some of you may have already done a course ( … or two… or more). If you haven’t heard of Vipassana, ask your friends about it – you will hear some VERY interesting stories.

I’ve been struggling to write this post.

I am not yet ready to share the ins-and-outs of what happened. Besides, there is no point reinventing the wheel – there is some much Viapassna info already widely and readily available on YouTube (full of advice and recounts) and online.

If you want more details on what the course is, my recommended two best personal Vipassana recounts are:

If you are a cyclist – check out what cycling-around-the-world The Wandering Nomads had to say about their 10-Day Vipassana Experience. Complete with beautiful photos.
Also, Torre DeRoche from The Fearful Adventurer retells her Vipassana experience. Very engaging and captures the struggles really well.

You kinda have to do it yourself.

If you get the chance, be brave and give it a go.

So, without getting stuck on the nitty-gritty details of my experience, here’s a brief Vipassana snapshot.

What is Vipassana?

Understanding Vipassana is not difficult. It is the consistent practice that is the hard part. Overall, there are three central pillars: Sila (morality), Samadhi (control of the mind) and Panna (wisdom).

Find out more about Vipassana here.

Vipassana means “to see things as they really are”.

The course is based on the teachings of Buddha but is linked to not Buddhism or any other religion. It is universal teaching, not secular. And it is not a cult.

The course requires students to live-in for 10 days and adhere to a monastic code of conduct, which includes (among others) avoiding all the following: speaking, eye contact, gesturing, touching, technology/mobile phone, reading, writing, exercise and the genders are segregated

Epic.

So what was it like?

It was a rollercoaster ride. Many ups. Many downs.

There were 26 women on my course, 4 left.

The timetable is intense. The commitment is intense. The location is beautiful.

I LOVED noble silence. I LOVED the early starts.

It was physically and mentally very challenging.

I learnt a lot about trust, compassion and letting go.

I learnt to notice and accept change (Annicca).

The stunning food and nightly discourses were daily highlights.

During the course, my awareness sharpened, I managed to slow down the noise in my head, and had the time to really focus being in the present moment.

Other thoughts…

Vipassana helps people (re)connect with the body by observing the interactions between the mental (mind/thinking) and the material (body/sensations).

The Vipassana technique is immediately useful and transferable to all other aspects of life (not just meditation), especially in the case of managing emotions such as fear, attachment, desire and pain.

The benefits of Vipassana are not only personal. As a bike rider, I have been applying it to my bike riding and there is a significant change in my approach to MTBing.

When I got back home from my course, I did what any normal contemporary bike-riding Vipassana student would have done: I made love with my husband, ate a gorgeous lunch, went for a mountain-bike ride, then meditated. Priorities.

Goenka was right. I am more content and happy.

I am still meditating every day.

18/10/201829/11/2018

Ride 2 Work Day 2018

Ride@Work Day 2018. Bicycles Create Change.com 18th October, 2018 — Source: Bicycle Network

Yesterday was Australia’s Ride2Work Day 2018.

This event is a national program that encourages workers to feel good and have fun commuting to work by bike.

The aim of Ride2Work is to promote the health, financial and environmental benefits of riding and encourage more people to ride to work. Ride2Work Day helps people who have never commuted by bike before to give it a go and allows regular riders to stay motivated and encourage their work-mates to get involved.

To be involved, participants register their ride on Ride2Work Day website. Registering is a way peak bicycle advocacy groups can better understand bike commuter behaviour and help leverage campaigns for better riding facilities to councils, local and state governments.

Most capital cities hold a Ride2Work Day breakfast event. I went to last year breakfast in Brisbane and this year we had a Griffith Uni crew meeting there.

It has been raining for a week in Brisbane, but when I woke up early. It was a beautiful crisp morning, and I was looking forward to meeting the other 8 Griffith Uni cyclists in at the Brisbane Law Courts Plaza, 7.00 – 8.15am for a free cyclist’s breakfast, coffee, chat with some fellow riders and to see what the stalls and tents had to offer.

I was excited!

I took Leki and we arrived in the city early.

So I took a little sojourn along the Brisbane River. Then I started heading in the direction of the Law Courts and ended up joining up along the way with another rider named Peter. We chatted as we rode along, marvelling at the beautiful morning and how lucky we were that the rain broke for this event.

But when we arrived at the event site, this is what we saw…..

After a quick chat with a few other cyclists and some phone calls, we found out the event had been cancelled due to rain – obviously!

Funny, none of us knew the event had been cancelled or had received any notification.

I checked the Bicycle Queensland website and Instagram before I left and there was no notification – hence heading out. A friend said later there was a short post on Bicycle Queensland’s Facebook page – not so helpful for those who don’t use Facebook – perhaps an email for those who had registered?

And nothing from the other Griffith cyclists either – interesting…!

No matter!

It was such a beautiful morning. I was certainly not going to waste this opportunity! So with Peter’s directions, I headed out towards West End on an adventurous morning ride.

Unsurprisingly, I had a great time!

I went scouting for a cool cafe to stop at before the morning traffic got too much, but ended up having such a lovely ride along the river, I just keep going!

I chatted to a few other cyclists and really enjoyed watching the city wake up.

I went to parts of the city I have not seen before and rode the long way back along the Brisbane River using a bike path I’ve never been on. GOLD!

It was awesome.

Tired, sweaty and happy – I then started to head back.

So despite the Brisbane event being cancelled- I had a brilliant ride to work.

I hope you did too!

04/10/201810/10/2018

Bike Palooza Bendigo

27/07/201830/07/2018

Bernard’s exploration of bicycles = Twende Social Innovation Center

A big thanks to Papa Al for passing on this inspiring story to share! NG.

There can be few better examples of where bicycles create more positive community change than through the bicycle work of Bernard Kiawia.

Bernard Kiwia started out as a bike mechanic in his home country of Tanzania.

While repairing bicycles, he began applying his skills to use pedal power to create products and tools that directly improve to the lives of people in his community.

In 2011, Bernard made a bicycle-powered cellphone charger (see below).

Since then, he has continued to invent.

Now, Bernard is called “the father of rural innovation” in Tanzania.

Bernard is now a well-respected social entrepreneur – and bikes still feature prominently in many of his new inventions.

His current work is now focused on applying his (and other people’s) mechanical and technical skills towards addressing manual labour and technology issues in his area.

Bernard's exploration of bicycles = Twende Social Innovation Center. Bicycles Create Change.com 27th July 2018. — Source: GCS: Episode 2 – Bike-Powered Cellphone Charger – Bernard Kiwia (Screenshot)

Bernard says:

What we want to show people is they have skills to make their own technology that they can afford, they can repair, they can find the spare parts that they need

With local people, their income is always small and the kind of machines you can buy in the shop are not made for these local people because they’re expensive. That’s why I’m focusing on local.

I create technologies because I realise it’s something that can help my family and the community.

Twende – Accelerating Social Innovation

Bernard established Twende, which is a community inventor’s workshop. Twende is a creative workspace for people to come and use tools, problem solve ideas and experiment with making prototypes.

In this way, Twende functions similarly to a Men’s Shed, as it is an open workspace that has tools, resources and people there to support projects.

It also runs three workshop streams

1. Creative Capacity Workshop -entry-level workshops for any level.

Affordable Flashlight (~6 hours)
Automatic Switch (~7 hours)
Solar-Powered Phone Charger (~10 hours)

2. Built It Workshops – mechanically-focused workshops which include:

Spirit Stove (~3 hours)
Bottle Opener (~2 hours)
Electronics Workshop for secondary schools
A few of the Build Its Workshops are also integrated into some schools electronics curriculum.

3. Advanced Offerings – requires some advanced skills and tools (like welding)

Drip Irrigation
Bicycle-Powered Maize Sheller

So far, over 800 local innovators have used Twende, of which most are secondary school students, small-holder farmers, women, and microentrepreneurs.

Bicycles are ubiquitous and versatile (especially as a means to produce energy-efficient power) so it is not surprising that they feature in many of Twende’s inventions.

The Twende innovation hub was established as a space to “collaborate with students and community members in Tanzania to identify their challenges and design & create their own solutions to their problems will contribute to a world with improved access to technologies that improve people’s lives, a stronger local economy, and a nation of innovators and problem-solvers.”

Hence, Twede teaches people how to create technologies that:

address their own needs.
utilize locally available materials,
are inexpensive and affordable,
are able to be repaired locally.
are designed with (not just for) communities & partners
…and they make some of their own inventions for use and sale as well

Twende is such an important grassroots social venture.

It fosters creative ingenuity, recycling, upskilling, empowers local skills, is cost-effective and addresses locally-identified issues – as well as providing a welcoming space for people to test mechanical and technical ideas that have an immediate positive impact.

And all this grew out of one man’s exploration of how a bike could make work and life better – awesome!

BBC News 1 images inlucded are still from the BBC video: Bernard Kiwia: Tanzania’s bicycle mechanic turned inventor.

23/07/201824/07/2018

Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver – Dale Bracewell

Nina Ginsberg and Dale Bracewell (Manager of Transportation Planning. City of Vancouver, Canada).

Recently I attended a very interesting event hosted by BikePedTrans. It was a presentation by Dale Bracewell, Manager of Transportation Planning for the City of Vancouver.

For many years now, Vancouver, Melbourne and Vienna have been jostling for the top positions in the top 5 ‘World’s Most Livable City’ rankings.

Vancouver has a particular sustainable and social interaction angle for its urban improvements that has created incredible positive change towards biking and active transportation – to a point where Vancouver is an exemplary urban cycling role model almost without rival.

As a bike enthusiast, this is very exciting! I wanted to hear more!

So here’s a quick overview of Dale’s session. It was called ‘From a Trickle to a Stream: Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Canada’.

Ambitious Plans: Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver

In 1997, Vancouver’s Transportation Plan identified there would be no increase in road capacity for cars and that walking, cycling and transit would be prioritised.

It also set an active travel mode share target of 40% to be achieved by 2008.

Significant progress has since been achieved and the plan was updated in 2012 that increased the targets even more – to 66% of all travel to be via walking bike or PT transit by 2040.

Remarkably, Vancouver achieved these goals well ahead of time – whereby 50% of travel set for 2020 was actually achieved by 2015.

Implementation of an impressive protected bike lane network and an Active Transportation Promotion & Enabling Plan saw daily cycling trips in Vancouver increase to over 50% from 2013 to 2016.

Vancouver’s vision is to support happy and health living by inspiring and enabling people of all ages and abilities to walk or cycle as their prefered way of getting around Vancouver.

Vancouver’s mission is to be leaders and partners in creating and promoting a world-class Active Transporation network in Vancouver.

Vancouver is looking beyond transport and mobility as the foundation for their Active Transportation policy. Their focus addresses and prioritises other eco-socio-cultural dimensions of urban living, to include health, safety, accessibility, economy, public life, environment and resiliency.

Vancouver has 5 Key Cycling Directions:

Upgrade and expand the bike network with routes that are comfortable and convenient
Improve integration with other modes, including via public bike share
Provide secure and abundant paring and end-of-trip facilities
Focus on education and safety
Promote cycling as an everyday option

The implementation principles for Vancouver’s Active Transportation Promotion & Enabling Plan are:

Think Big Picture
Be Opportunistic
Work Together
Invest Wisely
Innovate
Learn and Adapt

Data and Monitoring is key to everything!

Monitoring is key to tracking changes, recording data and observing trends. It is also imperative as evidence to prove positive changes and to encourage (stubborn?) politicians and administrators to act on increasing active transportation.

Vancouver’s monitoring program is impressive. Dale said a number of times that ‘you need to love the data!’. For example, evidence on the time spent sitting and being sedentary can be used to demonstrate causal impacts on health and physical activity outcomes. Dale also stressed the importance of female participation rates as an indicator of achievement of all ages design. Collect data and use it as evidence of success and to justify future initiatives.

What were some of the most interesting ideas?

Dale’s presentation was filled with interesting facts, ideas, learnings, suggestions and insights about Vancouver’s 2040 Transport Plan for biking. There was so much that was interesting, more than I can share here (contact Dale for more!). A quick review of some of the most interesting ideas include:

All ages and all abilities design – the end goal is for all Vancouver cycling infrastructure to all AAA standard. What a great idea!

Must have solid policy backing. Policy needs to recognise and drive issues that are broader than just mobility, for example, safety, health, accessibility, housing affordability, liveability and environment.
High-frequency mass transit is critical in shifting more locals towards using active transportation modes and away from private vehicles. To achieve this, having a minimum grid, forward-thinking strategic decision making and close consultations with stakeholders were key to building interest and momentum.
This presentation was the first time I heard the term ‘conversational bike lanes’ as a way to describe the width of a bike lane. This is used to describe how some bike lanes need to be wider in some places where two bike riders can ride alongside each other (to chat conversationally) as well as having room for one rider coming in the opposite direction (as opposed to just one bike width going both directions). What a lovely ‘social’ way of understanding bike lane usability.

It was inspiring to hear from Dale what could be achieved with political will and a clear strategic vision. What a brilliant model for other cities – a bikable city is achievable.

I am sure I was not the only one in the audience thinking why/how Brisbane could get to this same kind of state.

A trip to Vancouver anyone?

Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver - Dale Bracewell's Presentation. Bicycles Create Change.com July 23rd 2018 — Twitter: @Dale_Bracewell

All images my own and/or from Dale Bracewell’s PPT presentation.

05/07/201810/07/2018

The Cyclo Knitter

Dutch cycling enthusiast and designer George Barratt-Jones has created a human-powered automated bicycle-knitting machine called the Cyclo Knitter.

The Cyclo Knitter is essentially a bicycle-powered loom that is activated by light exercise.

George’s modification of a standard bicycle attached to a wooden frame and loom is such that when a rider cycles, the automatic loom attached to it will knit a fully completed scarf in 5 mins.

To launch his invention, the Cyclo Knitter was installed on a Dutch railway platform – as homage to the original inspiration for the machine, which was how to use the spare time waiting for a train in a productive manner.

A train platform is also an ideal place to showcase the Cyclo Knitter given that many commuters are already waiting on the platform for trains to arrive, so they had a spare 5 mins – and the novelty bike was a welcomed curiosity.

Best of all, those who trialled it were also rewarded with their very own ‘bespoke’ cycle-made scarf (*Aww DAD!! Not in front of my friends!!*).

Design and functionality

The Cyclo Knitter is a remarkably neat and compact invention. It is functional, quirky and innovative and is also very beautifully crafted and skillfully designed.

The Cyclo Knitter is set-up so that when the pedals turn, the spinning front wheel powers a knitting machine placed on top of a wooden tower at the front of the bike. As the rider pedals, they can watch in real time, as the knitted fabric comes from the top of the tower and is woven into a brand-new custom-made scarf. Awesome!

When George set up the Cyclo Knitter, the sign alongside it read:

Bored? Cold? Create!

Genius!

Here’s a quick video of what happened on the train platform…

Cyclo Knitter by George Barratt-Jones from George Barratt-Jones on Vimeo.

Of his video, George states:

“Imagine it’s the midst of winter. You are cold and bored waiting for your train at the station. This pedal powered machine gets you warm by moving, you are making something while you wait and in the end, you are left with a free scarf! That you can decide to keep yourself or give to someone who needs it more. Its all about spreading joy and making those boring moments more fun.”

To see more of the Cyclo-knitter and how it was made – click here.

Why is it so good?

Go Dutch – lead the way!

It is great to see such an innovative design, fun and functionality coming together in this unique bicycle modification.

It has a sleek design and aesthetic, but the whole assemblage also folds down into a convenient and portable flatpack item, which is ideal for moving between locations (see below).

It is wonderful to see such a refreshingly new utilisation a bicycle – and an approach that makes cycling AND knitting more interesting -and accessible – to the general public.

The added bonus of a free rider-made scarf is genius.

I hope we see more creative and community orientated bicycle projects like this in the future.

Image: Colossal

All images are still from the Vimeo video, except last two as indicated.

26/06/201810/07/2018

The Art of Looping

I had a great time at Queensland College of the Arts (QCA) this week at an intensive workshop with some of Griffith’s most talented artists. Here’s an overview of what we did for our 2-day The Art of Looping Workshop – Enjoy!

@victoriawareham

Day 1

I arrived at the QCA Southbank Design Studio and met my usual partner in creative crime, Claire Tracey. I’ve not been to the studio before and was impressed with the setup. The room had workstations set up with screens and we were issued with extra equipment and tools like speakers, MP3 recorders and other technical materials we would need. We all had mobile phones and a few, like me, had their laptops as well.

There were 19 participants in total, three of whom I knew. So it was a good mixture of mostly new and some familiar faces.

After an intro from the organisers, our presenter Alex Murray-Leslie showed us some of her latest work which explores electronic footwear, lights, environs and video – very interesting!

Then we went around the group and introduced ourselves and our art practice.

We then moved to a different space and took notes as each person read aloud a section from one of the texts they had bought. The readings ranged from textbooks, academic journals, song lyrics, children’s books and people’s own musings. We did a free writing activity and then got into set up in our “looping’ groups” just before lunch.

My Looping team consisting of three other amazing artists: Xhaohui Yang, Paula Payne, Hannah Reardon-Smith and me. Paula is a terrific painter, Hannah is a flautist with the Conservatorium and Xhaohui brought a few of her amazing pieces with her and we ended up using them every day.

After lunch, we all visited fellow Looper Karen Stone’s exhibition and heard her speak about her work. My team ended up staying in the exhibition space to continue filming – and we got a number of impromptu vignettes there …like…

Then we had free time to start shooting short videos. Our team spent the rest of the afternoon trialling and erroring ideas, discussing, designing and investigating how things could work when looped.

We spent the rest of the afternoon working on little projects in pairs and as a group. It was good fun to work with other people and it was a deliberately open format, so we could self-direct and follow ideas as much or as little as we wanted.

I was pretty tired by the end of the first day. Once I got home, I did a 29 min Teacher’s Tech crash Youtube course on DaVinci Resolve 14. I have had this editing software on my computer for some time, but have not made the time yet to use it. As we were one of the groups that didn’t have a video expert, it was the ideal time to learn new skills. The crash course was just enough to hack together a few ideas – perfect!

Day 2

Most people brought ‘extras’ on the second day: costumes, makeup, props, jewellery, pieces of our own art – and I brought in Leki. We started out by going on an ‘excursion’. Those with outfits put them on, others lugged gear and props. We wandered around Southbank and heading over The Goodwill Bridge and into the Gardens on the other side shooting scenes and scenarios as we went. It was great fun.

We explored lawns, garden beds, went up trees, into drains, through car parks, down flights of stairs, sat on rocks and cause some happy mayhem along the way. All the while in colourful costumes, sprouting text and being directed by fellow Loopers – much to the curiosity of random passerbys.

On one particular sortie, Claire, Alex and I found ourselves on Level 6 of the QUT Law building, whereI rode Leki across an overpass while poor Law students undertook a Law exam next door – we were quietly respectful, but the contrast between the two groups was palpable- good luck students!

After our excursion, we all headed back to the Design Studio and spent some time collating, editing and exporting our Loops. They were raw, rough and fun.

As you would expect, each team produced totally different loops. They varied widely in concept, production and technical delivery. It was really interesting to see what others had been working on and what were we able to produce in such a short space of time.

As a final showcase, filled every screen in the Design Studio with team loops, so we could walk around and see what people had been working on. Quite a few academics also came down to see our final presentations – it looked awesome.

Take-aways of time spent Looping

I was really inspired and impressed by the work and skills of my Looper team and the other participants.
It was great working on set with Claire again – we have such great creative synergy. It reminded me that public art and performance are so engaging and fun to create, but also that it is hard work.
I really enjoyed the variety of activities: I liked the warm-up intro, reading and writing that lead to the group work – it worked well to orientate us and get the creative juices flowing.
I liked that the open format pushed me to relax into whatever was happening, to relinquish the idea that ‘I need to know what I am doing’ or always have structure – the learning was organic.
I learnt a new skill (DaVinci Resolve Software) enough to put together an experimental short clip – which I would not have done in such a way if I had not done the workshop.
It was also great to have designated adult play-time – what a joy! So precious!
My team were easy going, innovative and everyone brought something to the table – and it was lovely being in a space where there was no right or wrong ideas or actions – just ‘seeing what might happen if we do this’ or ‘Let’s try X here’ – such a rare delight!
It was also great to get about and about in Brisbane to do some live shooting. I was very proud crossing The Goodwill Bridge with my fellow Loopers and being part of this beautiful, courageous, colourfully-dressed band of creatives exploring the city streets, buildings and gardens of Brisbane.

Looper Awards of Excellence

For a finale, Claire and I awarded each of our fellow loopers (and fearless leaders) a custom-made recycled Looper Award of Excellence medal, each of which we had made out of an array of recycled materials like bike inner tubes and parts, beer caps, repurposed bits-and-bobs, jewellery pieces and other found objects (see below). Just doing our bit to get more bikes in the creative arts!!

Thank you!

A massive thank you to Beck and Sue for organising this event.

To Alex for running the workshop – we had a great time!

To my team for being right there with me – you were awesome!

To all our other fellow loopers … for being equally amazing!

I can’t wait for the next workshop!

Tag: initiative

Thank you to The Sunshine Family for my recycled bike artist workshop!

Thank you to The Sunshine Family

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Day 1

Day 2

Take-aways of time spent Looping

Looper Awards of Excellence

Thank you!