United Visual Artists: Reinventing the Wheel

Client: United Visual Artists, Nowness

Director: UVA

DOP: James Medcraft

Sound Design: Nick Ryan

I was commissioned by UVA to create the sound design for an exclusive short film, produced in collaboration with VANDEYK Contemporary Cycles for NOWNESS. The film was made using the first production prototype of their newest bicycle.

The sound is entirely created from recordings I made of the VANDEYK prototype bicycle.

"A bicycle wheel is transformed into an homage to early op art in this mesmerizing collaboration between United Visual Artists and Stuttgart-based VANDEYK Contemporary Cycles. Inspired by the likes of Bridget Riley, the London-based collective UVA used LED strips and motion control systems to create a hypnotic vortex that momentarily threatens to suck the viewer in. Known for sitting at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, live performance, moving image and digital installation, Nick Ryan devised the film's surging soundtrack using audio recordings of the bike company’s latest limited-collection release, Purple Blast (a nod to the color of solar flares). The result is a crafty reference to Marcel Duchamp’s early 20th-century notion of the readymade."

Watch the video here on nowness.com