The Binary Biker Project

SIGGRAPH 98 Community Outreach Program

August 1998

The Binary Biker Project was a seven day motorcycle journey from New York to the 1998 SIGGRAPH International Computer Graphics Conference on Orlando, Florida. We traveled through New Jersey, Pennsylvania Dutch country, Maryland, Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, through North and South Carolina and finally to Florida. We traveled about 1900 miles. The trip was part of SIGGRAPH's Community Outreach Program. During our trip, we uploaded images from our daily journey and emailed a group of people who were following us on our Web site.

The trip was organized by myself and Rick Barry. We were the respective chairs of the Computer Art departments at SVA and Pratt. Along with us came five other people, including my friend and artist Victor Acevedo as the videographer for the trip. I was riding a 1998 BMW R1100R and Rick was riding a BMW K75. The rest followed in a van rigged with a computer and digitally controlled camera mounted on the front of the van.



This camera took one picture per minute for the entire journey. We ended up with over 2,000 images from the trip, some of which are included below. In addition to the trip, we had an exhibition at the conference and an art show of images related to motorcycles.



The trip was also dedicated to my friend Dan Preda, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1994. Dan and I had done this same ride as part of an idea to produce a CD-ROM of the trip. After Dan's death, I did not ride for a year, but took it back up again in 1995. I know Dan would have wanted me to keep riding. I was so inspired by the trip with Dan and the Binary Biker Project that I've adopted this method of travel as way to do my creative work. When I am on the road, the rhythm of the road gives me ideas for songs, the towns and countryside I travel through is a rich source of imagery, and the people I meet are an endless source of stories. I shoot videotape, digital images, record sounds and sketch on my journeys. I then bring this material back to my studio as the source material for my creative work.

The Binary Biker Project has ended, but I am continuing with Cyberbyker.org in the near future. I have also started a series of short stories. I'm calling them "Reflections of a CyberByker." I am also producing an exhibition of digital images from my motocycle journeys. It should be finsihed in December of 2001. It will include about 40 images from my motorcycle travels, as well as DVD video.

Below is the diary I wrote during the trip and some images. I hope you enjoy them.

Bruce Wands' Binary Biker Road Diary

Day 1

The Binary Biker project is underway. We had a photo op at the Guggenheim Museum at 11:00 AM. The Associated Press, Fox 5 News, Thunder Press and others were there. Several of our friends came, including Trilby Schreiber, Arnie Levin, Greg Elin, Dina Slothower, SVA and Pratt staff and students. We created quite a stir in front of the museum. We're on a hold pattern while some of the computer stuff is being tweaked, but we should be on the road by 4:00 PM. The images and diaries should start getting up on the www.binary-biker.org site by late today. Artists are encouraged to make art from the images we've uploaded. Please download them and upload your work. They can be manipulated or used as inspiration. We want this to be an interactive art event. I'll keep in touch. Bruce

Day 3and 4

plThe dream of digital connectivity keeps being interrupted by the reality of copper phone lines. Our hopes of getting a sponsor for satellite uplinks never materialized and we are having to rely on the phone systems in motels, and other places. The motel we were in last night in Front Royal, VA, a sleepy town at the gates of the Blue Ridge Mountains, only has two outgoing lines. As we attempted to upload the daily files, we kept getting interrupted. We are considering downloading everything to a Zip disc and sending it via overnight express to be uploaded to the web site in New York.

However, it is now 11:40 PM Monday night, 216 miles later, and we are in Bedford, VA and have solved getting online here with a comma. This phone system needs a pause before dialing the 800 number. I've downloaded the rest of the local access numbers, so hope that we can stay up to date.

I also underestimated the time and human factor. After a long day's ride and a healthy dinner, it is difficult to find the energy to write, do email, review the day's images and spend time on the computer. But, today we are up early and after I finish writing this, I will review the images and send you a couple. I have received some email that it will be better to send the images separately, so I will do that. They are JPEG files taken with a Sony Mavica camera. Victor Acevedo is responsible for most of the images and video. We are having frequent media battles when we stop, taking pictures of each other taking pictures and seeing if digital images or video can reign supreme.



The ride yesterday was fantastic. We are beginning to make a lot of progress. The speedometer on my bike now reads 868, up from 529 when we I checked it in the middle of the Holland Tunnel. We left Reading, PA about 11:45 and headed south on Route 222. We took that past Lancaster and the Amish country. I was a little disappointed that we breezed right by the Amish country without having any contact with them. They value their privacy, and I would not want to violate that. But, just watching their horse-drawn carriages and hearing the sound of horses cantering opens my mind to the reality that technology is not the be all and end all. One can still live a wonderful life close to the land and God in the twentieth century.

After Pennsylvania, we headed south on Route 15 to Gettysburg, where we stopped for lunch. We went by the battlefield and the thought that 60,000 people died there was heavy in my thoughts. The Civil War is such a deep concept to contemplate, but the reality of it is overwhelming.

From Gettysburg, we took a short hop to Fredericksburg, MD for a photo op with the Frederick Post newspaper. A photographer met us roadside and took some pictures. He really enjoyed the bikes and the technology. Photographers are 'equipment heads", as are computer users and motorcyclists. After that, we got back on the road and followed Route 15 to Route 340. 340 took us to Front Royal. 340 is a beautiful route, which passes through southern PA and then into VA and West VA. We passed through Harper's Ferry, and over the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.



We all agreed that Harper's Ferry would be a good place to spend some time. There are beautiful areas where wide rivers strewn with large boulders pass through the mountains. As we got further south, we could see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance They were stunning, each mountain painted with various shades of blue depending on its distance from us.

When we arrived in Front Royal, we easily found a motel this time. We had dinner at the Mightyfine Seafood & Barbecue Co. It was amazing, but Dan and I had stopped at the same restaurant four years ago. I had mentioned to Rick at a stoplight several miles back that I was having flashes of memories of my trip with Dan. As I would be riding, I would pass a curve or landmark, and it would look familiar. We also joked that Dan was up there smiling and saying "Bruuuuce, you finally got a BMW and go rid of that damned Harley!" He always used to elongate my name when he said it. He also did not like Harley Davidson motorcycles. I loved them because they were loud, fast, rough and primitive, when compared to the BMW. When you rode a Harley, you knew you were on one. They had tremendous sex appeal. Anyway, I am now a BMW owner, but think I am still going to keep the other bike for fun. The BMW is a dream touring bike. The low center of gravity makes it hug the road and it is very comfortable on long trips.

Time is flying and I could sit here writing, but the road is calling me and I long for the feeling of being free again. More later...

Day 5 Morning

It is hard to believe that it is day 5 already. We are notoriously behind schedule and are going to resort to the backup plan of taking an interstate. Ugh! We're currently in Fancy Gap. NC on the last third of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got a really late start yesterday, computer problems again, and had a short ride of about 140 miles. However, it was a great ride. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on. It is a two-lane road that goes through the forest. It travels the crest of the mountains. At one point yesterday, we were so high, that a hawk was less than fifty feet above our head. On both sides of the road were mountains as far as you could see. We have been blessed with good weather. Every day has been sunny, warm and relatively clear. There were predictions of rain today, but this morning is sunny and perhaps we may get a shower later. Must run...

Day 6 Evening

Three cheers for the Holiday Inn Express in Statesboro, Georgia. Not only do they have dataports on their phones, but two lines in the rooms! I can talk and write at the same time. If we've had a major problem this trip, it was with connectivity. Not all motel phone systems allow you to do email.

Yesterday was the catch up day. We rode about 350 miles. Our longest day so far. We changed our route, since we were so far behind schedule. We decided to bypass Asheville, NC. We took Interstate 77 from Fancy Gap, VA and rode to Charlotte, NC, one of NASCAR's homes, and bought some more electronic gear. We are running the computer in the van off of the car lighter socket with a voltage inverter, and the sockets keep melting. To my knowledge, the problem was solved. We uploaded several hundred images last night. To date, we have put 1049 images on the website. We want artists to download the images and make art with them and upload them to the online gallery. I have taken a lot of macro photos of insects, flowers, plants, etc. as well as landscapes with that in mind. There are a lot of people shots, too.

From Charlotte, we headed to Columbia, SC for lunch. We stopped at a great place called Sundance. There is a Vista section of Columbia that has a lot of great places to eat, nightlife (which we missed), etc. They had delicious Appalachia Bay oysters for $3 a dozen. In New York, they are $1.50 each! We all had a chance to relax and felt better that all the equipment was working and that we were getting back on schedule.

Our final destination last night was Statesboro, GA. I had a fixation on the town because of the Allman Brother's song "Statesboro Blues". When I arrived, I immediately called my keyboard player, Jeff McGowan, to tell him where I was. We had played "Statesboro Blues" with the Roosters band every weekend night for two years. Now the song has a special meaning. Jeff and I have a band called the Brujon Project. We got tired of playing covers and are now writing original music. We've played a few gigs in New York, and are looking to get out in clubs in the fall. Right now we're working on the second CD and have a 45 minute set together. Our goal is to have two sets of original music for the fall.

The change in route did put us back on schedule and we are planning on arriving in Gainesville, FL tonight. I think we are going to take Route 1 through GA.

We had an interesting email last night. We were going through Columbia SC and a BMW motorcycle passed us and beeped. Later that evening, we got an email from the rider. He had noticed us and recognized the Binary Biker tour. That made us feel good. With all the frustration revolving around connectivity, it was nice to see that we were actually reaching local people on the trip.

We had some rain last night. It was warm and started on the last half-hour of our trip. We have been so lucky with the weather. As I look out my window, I can see a huge palm tree. We are in the south for sure. The route 301 that we took from Columbia followed the train tracks and it was a strange trip. So many of the small towns that we went through had suffered from the decline of the railroad. One can only ponder the changes that will take place as telecommunications grows and telecommuting becomes more of an American life style. In some ways, it may bring some life back to the rural spots in America. People have clustered near the larger cities for work.

I'm looking forward to today's ride. It is cloudy and a 50% chance of rain. I walked outside a few minutes ago and it is very, very humid. With a rain suit on, it is not a major problem to ride. The downside is that you sweat as much as you get wet from the rain. The upside is that you are on the road. More later....

Day 7 Morning

It is hard to believe that today will be our last day on the road. The week seemed to fly by faster than the 70 MPH southern speed limit. We were looking at some video the other night and everyone was remarking how the first day seemed like ancient history.



We are at the Holiday Inn, our new home for connectivity, in Jacksonville, FL. When we checked in yesterday the lobby was peppered with pilots and stewardesses in blue and white uniforms. We are very near the airport. The hotel has an air of transience to it. It is in stark contrast to the sleepy motels we stayed in during our passage through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The hustle and bustle of modern day life is becoming real again.

I stayed up to about 3:00 AM this morning catching up on email. I finally had a chance to respond to the many emails I had received on the road. Last night I was finally digging into my business email and starting to make my list of where everyone will be at SIGGRAPH and what to do when we arrive.

We are 140 miles north of Orlando and will arrive at SIGGRAPH some time today. Rick is having trouble with his bike and worried that he has somehow fried his electrical system. The lights work fine, but the battery keeps running dead and the starting and/or charging system is not working properly. We do have a spare bike in the trailer. It is an R110GS, which is the same model that Dan drove down with me four years ago. I was eerie to see it in the trailer the other night. It reminded me of the funerals that include a horse with no rider. Although it was brought for use in the exhibition and as a spare, I could not help but think it was also a silent tribute to the rider who helped inspire this trip and to whom we had dedicated it. I have only been to Orlando once since Dan's death four years. It was for a Disney Days event last year. Finally, after a few days, I went to the spot where he had crashed at the gates of Pleasure Island and spent a few quiet moments in reflection. I miss him so much. He was my best friend and a rare man who was loved and respected by all who knew him. The pain has dwindled, and now I treasure the memories of our times together. I know he was there in spirit looking down on us during the trip.

Before I end the road diary, which will be followed by a Binary Biker SIGGRAPH events diary, I'd like to thank a few of the people who helped make this trip what it was. Victor Acevedo was the other half of the SVA contingent on the road. His sense of humor, and unique perspective added much to all of our enjoyment. He was also the official videographer of the journey and we are editing his video for the conference. His personal creative work is in the SIGGRAPH Art show and he is participating in an Artist's Sketch Panel on Monday. There was tremendous support from SVA New York, including Stuart Ginsberg, Emily Prawda and Dan Halm's great job getting us publicity. Doug Bloom was the SVA webmaster in New York and the staff of both the MFA and the BFA Computer Art departments all helped in a multitude of ways. All of the Pratt people, starting with Rick Barry and including our road crew of Pete Easton, Mark Sugarman, Melissa MacGillvray, and Ruth Blankiet, and Greg Vassie at Pratt all helped to make this a great event for all. It makes me feel good when two institutions such as ours can joint together in a creative project. This will be my last email from the road and the next one will come from our final destination, SIGRAPH 98 in Orlando.



Only 140 miles to go before I sleep, and many more miles to go before I sleep. Thank you Robert Frost for the poetic thought. Bruce Wands signing off for now...