Project Overview
Working title:
Bikes Against Bush: Using Wireless Bycicles to Protest the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC
Working Abstract:
Bikes Against Bush transforms ordinary bicycles into Internet-enabled, tactical media "artillery" for non-violent, creative resistance during the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC. Bikes Against Bush bicycles include an embedded laptop computer with wireless technology, a mechanical ChalkWriter printer device that holds a series of spray-chalk aerosol cans, and a webcam to document messages printed by the Bikes Against Bush unit for further distribution of messages via alternative media.
The Bikes Against Bush ChalkWriter can print text messages from web users directly on the street surface as the biker/activist cruises along. Online users can send messages to the bicycle in real-time through the project website, bikesagainstbush.com. The cyclist decides when and where to print them, based on tactical criteria. When the cyclist prints a message, the bikesagainstbush.com website automatically updates a live map marking the location of the message. The webcam on the bike also documents this with a snapshot at the moment of printing.
To avoid any taint of vandalism, the spray-chalk text message is easily removable with water, or biodegrades safely within 30 days. The Bikes Against Bush strategy is not to engage in "civil disobedience," but to serve as an inspirational working model for alternative, creative political statement and attention-grabbing, memorable, persuasive resistance.
Keywords:
Activism, Civil Disobedience, Direct Action, Cyberactivism, Hacktivism, Tactical Media, Creative Resistance Movement, Culture-Jamming, Political Protest, 2004 Republican National Convention, George W. Bush, Anti-Bush Movement, Wireless Bicycles, GPS, Bluetooth, Robotics, Graffiti