Client: City of Santa Rosa

Overview

“Cyclisk,” is a sixty-five-high (five-story) Egyptian-style obelisk made from recycled bicycles; unusable bicycles were collected and cleaned, then welded to a steel superstructure to create the obelisk form.

Goals

We installed a landmark gateway public work – a sixty-five-foot traditional Egyptian-style obelisk made of reclaimed bicycle parts, bringing a sense of whimsy and regal ridiculousness to a previously downtrodden section of the City of Santa Rosa. Shaping a landfill-bound material into a “polished form” creates a series of intersecting rhythms – a visual metaphor for the human experience exploring technology and the humanities – history and possible futures – individual as well as collective for the City of Santa Rosa landmark, evoking a “world of possibilities,” for years to come....

Process

Bicycles were collected from the debris bins of the following bicycle kitchens: Trips for Kids/Recyclery in San Rafael, Bici Centro in Santa Barbara, and Community Bikes in Santa Rosa, CA. All work was completed by artists.

Additional Information

“Cyclisk” is one of the largest public art projects in the region, garnered a front page Press Democrat article, feature in Wired’s Gadget Labs, AIA Decade of Design First Place Award, SEAONC award and prestigious Public Art Network Year in Review Award.