Biking with

Owned by Darlene Edgar
May 27, 2024
2 min read

 

Mayers, R. (2020). See the light: “Biking-with” as an a/r/tographic method of public pedagogy. Journal of Arts & Communities, 12(1–2), 105–118. https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=f33ce96b-e71a-38b0-a34a-120d136e7809

Biking-with as a Political Practice and Public Pedagogy:

  • Biking-with encompasses the political practice and critical public pedagogy of cycling.

  • Cycling represents both transportation and recreation, challenging predefined notions of cyclists.

  • Qualitative lived experiences of cycling provide embodied knowledge and learning.

  • Cycling serves as a method for public pedagogy, connecting critical learning to social and political understanding.

  • Appropriating space through cycling can be a method of resistance, highlighting power dynamics in public spaces.

  • Biking-with as Inquiry and Civic Action:

    • Biking-with creates an interrelationship between art, teaching, and research.

    • It explores the embodied cycling experience within public space and freedom of mobility.

    • Biking-with can be utilized as a form of civic action and inquiry to reconceptualize boundaries between humans and non-humans.

    • The methodology involves using photography to capture the experience of cycling and its potential as public pedagogy.

  • Privatization and Politics of Cycling:

    • Cycling is increasingly privatized and politicized, with infrastructure and policy decisions being highly political.

    • Spaces that seem public are often owned by private entities, impacting mobility injustices and collective action.

    • Biking can be seen as a demonstration of identity politics, challenging norms and rules in public spaces.

    • Collective political action through cycling aims to change the structure and ownership of public space.

  • Artography and Living Inquiry:

    • Artography methodology involves living inquiry and coexisting identities of artist, researcher, and teacher.

    • It combines art, image, and word to engage in reflexive inquiry, focusing on the process rather than outcomes.

    • Walking with represents critical engagement in political positions or knowledge, rethinking the value of walking and its interconnectedness.

    • Cycling as living inquiry illuminates critical issues in public space and political struggles, critiquing the culture of mobility and advocating for cycling infrastructure.

  • Methodological Approach:

    • Biking-with embraces ambiguity and individuality, engaging artistic expression to convey overlooked thoughts and feelings.

    • It offers nontraditional methods of inquiry, providing diverse perspectives on cycling and cycling research.