When used bicycle parts get a second life as something beautiful, the term ‘upcycling’ couldn’t be more apt. Although an advocate of all things eco, I am one of the few Londoners that doesn’t do cycling – in fact, you couldn’t pay me to get on a Boris Bike. But I can appreciate the imagination required to turn something as clunky as a bicycle chain, seat or inner tube into something aesthetically elegant. Read on for some of the best examples of bicycle part repurposing.
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Hunting trophy hangers
Austrian designer Andreas Scheiger created a series of hangers called ‘Upcycle Fetish’ inspired by Picasso’s ‘Bull’s Head’ sculpture from 1942. Reclaimed bike parts are mounted on to a wooden plaque – a play on the taxidermy hunting trophy and can used to hang a plethora of items, including an actual bicycle.
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Bicycle chain chandelier
The ‘Connect’ series of chandeliers is made of recycled bicycle chains by LA-based Carolina Fontoura Alzaga. The multidisciplinary artist often explores socio-political themes in her work and says, “The traditional chandelier is seen as a bourgeois commodity, a cachet of affluence, excess and power. The recycled bicycle parts become a representation of the dismissed, invisible and powerless, but are also an affirmation of self-propelled movement.”
Carolina also sells some of her chandelier designs via Etsy*
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Bicycle wheel clock
A brilliant gift idea for cycling and upcycling fanatics alike. This clock* was created from a recycled, Carbon Fibre HED bike wheel and tyre. Check out more upcycled clocks from Etsy seller Pixelthis here*
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Ballroom Luminoso
In 2013, under a gloomy Texas underpass, Ballroom Luminoso was installed by artists Joe O’Connell and Blessing Hancock. The work comprised six chandeliers made from structural steel, custom LEDs and recycled bicycle parts. By night, the underpass was cast in a beautiful play of circular shadows which incorporates the iconography of La Loteria, a Latin American board game, drawing on the Hispanic heritage of the community.
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Bicycle feature wall
Here, bikes mounted onto the exterior of a bicycle shop is an effective alternative to shop signage. The shop in Altlandsberg, Germany started their collection with 40 bikes that were brought in as trade-ins and it has since increased to about 120. That scene from E.T brought to mind?
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See also our post on the best art installations made from repurposed materials
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