About the Project

Boom Box Bikes
Sound Urban Intervention

Mario Ramiro, from the University of São Paolo, and Mark Hosford, from Vanderbilt University, will lead a collaborative public performance project that will culminate with a workshop and art intervention in Nashville, TN.

Art intervention is a form of artistic expression where the public is confronted with art in everyday environments, rather than having the art contained within a sanctioned art space. This particular intervention will take the form of a bicycle sound performance that will ride through campus and various locations within the city.

Students will begin by taking part in a group workshop, rigging bicycles to incorporate car stereos, controllable by cell phones and media players. These mobile sound stations will each be uniquely designed by the students involved in the workshop. Music and sounds will be sampled, created, mixed, and produced in order to have a collaborative effect between each bicycle as they ride together and apart. The bicycles will act as an active mixing board, merging and diverging sounds as the bicycles ride in and out of formation. Sounds will range from traditional music from South and North America, to more contemporary beats and rhythms, and noises.

The performance will be documented by video recordings made by students using professional cameras and portable media. A final video of the events will be edited and compiled into a single video documentation. After the performance is complete, we will gather all participating parties in order to discuss the collaborative experience.

This project will be open to students from any discipline. We are not limiting the workshop or specific tasks to any particular students. Any student can collaborate on the project, whether in the construction, bike riding, or filming. This event will bring students together on campus for a unique creative experience unlike any other. It will touch on aspects of movements such as art intervention, sound art, and the critical mass bike movement.

During October 21-29, help will be needed in the following catagories:

- Decorating bicycles


- Putting together racks and platforms on bikes


- Creating boxes for sound systems on bikes


- Wiring sound systems


- Creating music for sound performances


- Bike riders once fleet is complete (sound will be controlled via ipods and smartphones)


- Videographers to record footage of project

The projects base location will be room 104 in the Ingram Studio Arts Center. The Ingram Studio Arts Center is open from 9 a.m to 4 p.m.



For more information, please email: Mark Hosford or Mario Ramiro