SPIN and Boom Bike posted by Sara

Young Producers, Blackpool

The Blackpool young producers began as a group of young people who completed their Bronze Arts Award through Blackpool Arts Service. The group have a range of interests, from fashion to photography, visual arts to performance and music. They meet regularly at Blackpool Library and some of them are about to embark on their Silver arts Award.

This group have commissioned 2 artists to make work with them for Ride the Lights, a Visit Blackpool event that gives residents and visitors a unique chance to cycle through Blackpool’s world famous illuminations on a traffic free promenade.

Artists: Lisa Roberts/ Daniel Blackburn, Huddersfield, UK

Since 1999 Lisa has been the co-director of Blink, the pioneering interaction design company commended in the British Interactive Media Awards. Daniel Blackburn is a games designer and technologist who heads up the Huddersfield company Carbon Based Games.

Lisa and Daniel will work with the Blackpool young producers to design Persistence of Vision (POV) lighting displays for 50 bikes to create a stunning visual display, called SPIN, for Ride the Lights in Blackpool. Persistence of Vision displays use a sequence of flickering lights and motion to trick the eye into seeing a complete image or sequence of images. Each device is about the size of a large matchbox and can fit directly onto the spokes of a bike.

Artist: Dan Fox, Ulverston

Dan Fox is an artist working with sound in all its forms. He composes, records and performs, makes musical instruments, creates digital interfaces, runs RSL radio stations and designs sound for theatre and film.

Dan will work with the young producers to design and make a pedal and solar powered mobile sound system built onto a souped up bike or tricycle. The mobile sound system will be multifunctional. There will be inputs for microphones and other external devices such as mp3 players, mobile phones, laptops, musical instruments and DJ decks.

Watch out for the Boom Bike and SPIN at this years Ride the Lights event in Blackpool on August 31st