Tuesday 22 September 2009

Spending the Cycling City Millions #2

While those of us doing serious work on identifying and promoting opportunities to enhance cycling remain very much out in the cold, it seems any project that touches on the more frivolous side of cycling will be showered with Cycling City money. Cycling City's 'Better by Bike' logo crops up attached to all sorts of events, including for example the New Cut celebrations in May and this weekend's Bristol Do, signifying yet another beneficiary of the funds that were supposed to be spent on 'cycling'.



One of the Cycling City funded elements of the Bristol Do is Rider Spoke, a work by Blast Theory, currently, er, happening down at the Arnolfini. It involves people actually going out on bicycle rides around the city, so really edgy stuff. Of course some of us have been doing that sort of thing for decades, but now, thanks to the munificence of Cycling City, we know that we have in fact been performing a work of art! Now where do I go for my Arts Council grant?

I'm told by people who have participated in Rider Spoke that it's 'great fun' and well worth the nominal £4 charge. I did wander into the Arnolfini yesterday to ask in my querulous way "What's the point of it?" and was told "It's a work of art" which I guess answers the question. Of course they had no idea what the whole thing was costing us (why should they care?) but judging by all the earnest young men with expensive looking laptops and the array of smart bikes for the use of participants I guess Rider Spoke doesn't come cheap.



I've nothing against 'art' per se but I don't see why it can't be funded by the consumers of it, where practical, in the same way as say 'housing' or 'transport' or 'food' is, not to mention most mainstream entertainment. In the case of Rider Spoke a nominal charge is payable anyway so why can't it be based on the real costs? Because people would baulk at paying that much? Perhaps then it doesn't actually represent value for money, in which case is it worth doing?

Another aspect one might ponder is the environmental impact of such 'works of art'. Rider Spoke is currently touring Europe and has recently completed 4 days in Copenhagen and a week in Linz. You can guess that such a tour generates plenty of air travel and the bicycles have to be trucked thousands of miles. Does anybody bother to do an environmental impact assessment for such things? And if they do, might we the paying public be allowed to know what it is?

Anyway here's a Blast Theory video to give their side of the story (although don't expect it to reveal anything as sordid as the public subsidy involved).

10 comments:

Andy in Germany said...

I think I'm missing something. Although it is a great way for Bristol council to look active and involved -and very trendy- without doing anything that may change the situation on the ground.

Open ID won't work, as usual:

www.workbike.wordpress.org

MichelleY said...

Hi Chris,

Great post!

I’m Michelle from Jam and I’m working with the Guardian on their ‘Enjoy England’ feature, which is being produced in partnership with enjoyEngland.com.

I would like to get in contact with you about an opportunity to share the great things we can do in England, but I could not find a contact email for you.

Is there a way I can contact you with this information? My email address is guardian@i-level.com.

Kind regards,

Michelle

Anonymous said...

If BBC were to offer you a contract to become a consultant/advisor on the project would you accept?

Anonymous said...

BCC!

Chris Hutt said...

I would assume the object of such an offer would be to stop me making public criticisms, since I could hardly continue to blog and be a paid consultant.

So the question then becomes would I take a bribe to stop blogging. I have in essense already declined to do so on occasions in the past when I have had to choose between criticising what I believed to be be wrong and keeping or securing paid employment.

So I think I would have to decline again if such an offer were made. I've already lost so much in the material sense from refusing to compromise that it would be perverse to cave in so late in life.

I would genuinely like to work more constructively on finding ways to make cycling and walking more attractive but in my experience everyone who tries to combine doing so with earning a living ends up betraying the interests they originally sought to serve.

It's a real dilemma for lots of people. Many think that they can work within the system to change it but the system changes them and they end up being part of the problem, namely a self-perpetuating social stratum of bureaucrats, quangocrats, academics and consultants who mutually back-scratch.

The alternative doesn't have much going for it. A lonely life out in the metaphorical cold, largely disconnected from one's natural peer group (who have typically 'sold out'). But it's a good basis for being a blogger.

Anonymous said...

In that case what is it that you do, in terms of work? I know will you not answer but I think it is an important question as to what it is you do to earn a living? Do you comprimise in your line of work?

You say:
I've already lost so much in the material sense from refusing to compromise that it would be perverse to cave in so late in life.

I understand you live in a pretty tidy part of Bristol..not so sure life is that hard due to your loss in a material sense.

Anonymous said...

"I have in essense already declined to do so on occasions in the past when I have had to choose between criticising what I believed to be be wrong and keeping or securing paid employment.

So I think I would have to decline again if such an offer were made."

Good to hear this as whenever I decide not to compromise, someone says "You'll change when you're older"

BTW Anonymous. I've only read Chris's blog for a few months and I know what he does for a living. It's obvious if you read carefully.

Anonymous said...

Prey do tell..as I know CH will not. Change without comprimise is impossible..and on a personal level impossible to have a relationship without.

Chris Hutt said...

Anon, it's no secret that I'm a plumber, during those brief moments when I'm not blogging.

It was all over the front page of the Evening Post a few weeks ago - http://bit.ly/jdTc5

But I don't think it's going to help you much with whatever point your trying to make.

We all have to make compromises to function in society, even just to live. But we also need to know where to draw the line and say 'enough is enough'. In my view too many people make too many compromises and that is why our collective moral compass is so askew.

Anonymous said...

My point is to make significant change, particularly in promoting cycling and walking you will have to make compromise as they are fringe issues in the greater scheme of things. Essentially the state will be the only force to implement the grand changes that you want but the majority are not too interested so you and other cycling activists will have to compromise before you get your utopia. (just for he record I am a cyclist) Good luck with it all but I feel there are bigger issues to tackle.