Ekphrasis – Bicycle Wheel

Shelley Lake

Writing Assignment 1: Ekphrasis

A bicycle wheel and wooden stool are assembled to form a single object. The hub, spokes and rim is without a tire. 36 spokes surround the axle. With its upside-down orientation, the bicycle wheel appears to defy gravity. The fork and steerer tube meet the round wooden platform and penetrate the wood with an underseat stabilizer that secures the bicycle wheel to the chair. Scuff marks, nicks and dents scar the rim of the seat and bottom of all four legs. The wheel appears free to spin about the hub, and is pregnant with the possibility of motion.

Cold, dark, metal is contrasted against the warmth of blonde wood. Structural stability holds these elements together with acrobatic precision. Careful attention is paid to proportion. A round wheel echoes a round seat. Legs of the stool do not taper, however the oblique angle of entry into the seat drives our gaze upward, into the wheel. A pair of rungs for each pair of legs suggest the ascensional gesture of a ladder. The caricature of a human head on a foothold haunts the subconscious.

Fig. 2. Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel. 1916-17. Assemblage.

Original Paris studio photograph of 2nd version. Wikipedia.

Fig. 1. Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel. 1951. 3rd Version., 51” x 25” x 16.5”, New York City, N.Y. Museum of Modern Art