You've got to see it to believe it. And then you have to ride it.
An amazing, moving sculpture made out of recycled bike wheels salvaged from The Green Shed has been unveiled outside a home in Turner - and the designer and home owner are generously inviting everyone to get on and have a go.
The home in Masson Street is owned by The Green Shed's Charlie Bigg-Wither and Sandie Parkes, who approached Canberra designer and blacksmith Oscar Gardner to come up with something out-of-the-box with the bikes that ended up at the tip but couldn't be resold.
"So we came up with the idea to make this huge sculpture out of all the recycled wheels. It's a huge problem these days with so much stuff being thrown out. So it gives it a second purpose, gives it another life," Oscar said.
And it's designed to be interactive. The wheels are connected to an old Speedwell bike fixed to the ground. The rider moves the pedals and that powers the wheels. Stained glass was placed in the spokes of the wheels by Rachael Hayward from Groovy Glass ACT, the colours sparkling in the winter sun. The sculpture is close to Haig Park.
"It's mounted pretty close to the footpath at the front of the property, so that kids and families and what not can come and jump on and everyone can enjoy it. It gives off a real visual effect when you're riding it. So that was the whole idea behind that," Oscar said.
The 26-year-old from Bruce owns Classic Steel and Design, a traditional blacksmith's shop he runs at Mitchell.
"I've always loved working with metal and working with my hands. I think I started welding when I was 11 or 12," Oscar said.
Oscar studied blacksmithing in Richmond, NSW, a member of the final cohort to do the course. He is committed to passing on the skills.
"The idea of my shop is to teach classes, keep it alive and share as much knowledge in community as possible," he said.
"Because these techniques which have been developed over thousands of years are going to slowly start to fade."
Oscar, who also used to work at The Green Shed, said so many bikes were taken there some inevitably ended up as scrap metal.
"Initially the wheels were going to just hang on the frame and blow in the wind every now and then but eventually I came up with the idea of driving the whole lot, which made it a whole lot more challenging," he said.
"The idea was to bring people together and have a more interactive piece rather than one that still looks amazing but when you add that moving side of it, that mechanical aspect of it, it takes it to another level.
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