Cycling is both an activity and a mode of transportation, yet also a complex and meaningful mode of inquiry that is a useful tool for public pedagogy as it can be used to understand discourse, public space and the struggles of transportation and identity. By the inherent ability of a bike to appropriate public space, cycling can serve as a method of resistance to the larger transportation discourse and through the collective act, be a method of civic engagement.
The embodiment of cycling as a collective can lead to change of discourse and public policy, having immense ramifications for the freedom of mobility. Through the use of a/r/tography, the living inquiry of the artist/researcher/teacher (Springgar, Irwin & Kind, 2008), cycling can recognized as a method of inquiry focused on the embodied experience, can help critique the discourse of transportation and the broader political struggle within a city to help learn and make change.
Through a/r/tography, this project used photography to capture the embodiment of cycling through the light lines of myself, the cyclist, in the environment. The embodied cycling experience is most definitely embedded in the larger realm of public space because it is openly public and the movement itself consistently resists the typical transportation norms and expectations. To resist the norms, artography can be used to capture the essence of both an activity, yet also the ways in which we can learn outside of a classroom about public issues.
For an in-depth presentation of this project, click on this Pezi Link and for further details on the authour, Rebecca Mayers.
