A more obvious variation of the theme of this project, followed below by a bit of an expansion of conversations I find myself having whilst straddling various camps.
TALL TALES & TERMINOLOGY
It has
occurred to me, in my attempt to fill a gap between art worlds and bike worlds
that there is a lot of specialist language that is employed between the
two. Certainly, this is not a revelation
and this kind of thing occurs in all subcultures. These nuances of language are developed both
for a need to be able to have highly specific and resolved communication and
also become present in more informal contexts.
These less formal applications include things like the use of slang
which has built in cultural implications that indicate complex understandings
and can be applied in ways that can leave outsiders feeling excluded.
Let me give
you some examples that are fitting to this project. If I was talking to a trained art head I
would talk about things like how I am interested in notions of hacking,
hijacking and punk. More specifically, I
would make reference to movements such as Arte Povera, Grunge and maybe even
take a stab at the idea of freak bikes being related the notion of the abject
and it’s reanimation of things otherwise dead or discarded.
There are
those people I know who are left leaning, politically, who I would talk to
about the idea of freak bike culture purposefully rejecting existing systems of
order, opposing primary elements of commodity based culture and encouraging DIY
in the post apocalyptic sense rather than the Jamie Durie sense. I might even try to strike up a conversation
about true radical creativity.
To my bike
buddies I talk about things such as bike-packing, how the relative head angle
of a tall bike effects the trail of the fork, overall weight position and the
machine’s tendency to perform uncontrollable mad wheelies and my futile
attempts at joining delicate 4130 tubing with the decidedly undelicate process
of arc welding. Most of these
conversations are relevant to an understanding of all things two-wheeled and
pedallable and are shared with the majority of my long term bike friends who
tend to have a passion for anything that vaguely resembles a bicycle. They, in-turn, have arrived at their specific
points via original interests in specific cycling subcultures such as BMX, MTB,
fixed or road, all of which have a specifc set of language and understandings.
Indeed, most of these specific subcultures act as a bit of a gateway drug to
get riders hooked into a lifetime of bicycle use.
So, after
all of that nonsense, I would expect that you are scratching your head in confusion,
regarding one angle or another. At this
point, I must also make clear, that there is no quick way to resolve these gaps,
only that it is up to those people who use specialist language not to use it in
anger and to help out those who are still coming up to speed. Similarly, don’t be intimidated by big words,
just consider them another step forward in your own ongoing language adventure.
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