forever bicycle sculpture by ai weiwei re-purposes 3,144 steel bikes

scotiabank’s nuit blanche has presented a re-interpretation of ai weiwei‘s ‘forever bicycle’ exhibition, which originally debuted at the taipei fine arts museum in 2011. this time, 3,144 interconnected bicycles have formed a three-dimensional structure in toronto’s nathan phillips square, creating a euphoric visual effect of colorful illumination at night. the ‘forever bicycle’ sculpture has been constructed using frames from yong jiu – literally translated as ‘forever’ – china’s most common bicycle brand. reconstructing the two-wheeled transporter using abstraction and symbolism, ai weiwei creates a colossal labyrinth-like, moving space, which metaphorically represents the changing social environment in china and around the globe.

earlier this year, ai weiwei also exhibited ‘stacked’ at galeria continua, which comprised of 760 piled-up bicycles – a continuation of his work from 2008 entitled ‘very yao’. 

all images © ryan davey

ai weiwei‘s ‘forever bicycle’ exhibition is presented at scotiabank’s nuit blanche in toronto from october 6th to october 27th, 2013.