There’s a new public art exhibit on the Milwaukee RiverWalk this summer, but it requires public interaction to work. Light Lane is an interactive art installation in front of the Chase Tower on the RiverWalk. The exhibition was designed by LeMonde Studio in partnership with Milwaukee Downtown to connect people with art through the medium of, you guessed it, bikes.
Light Lane was custom-designed for Milwaukee and debuted on July 1. The installation is best enjoyed at night but is free and open to the public 24/7 now through mid-August.
As a fan of any interactive public entertainment, most notably the xylophones at the north entrance of the Summerfest grounds, this exhibit immediately caught my attention. Light up bikes on the RiverWalk? Need I say more?
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
I stopped reading the info page there and called some friends to see the bikes with me. Within 20 minutes, we were on a mission.
I maintained a laser-sharp focus walking down the RiverWalk, eyes darting side to side as we traversed southbound.
“Maybe you should’ve looked up where on the RiverWalk this thing is,” my friend mumbled.
“It’s about the journey, not the destination,” I responded. “Plus, wandering is fun.” But in my head, I was beginning to lose faith that we’d ever find what we were looking for.
Just as I was about to give up, about a few hundred steps after my mandatory photo op with the Bronze Fonz, my eyes narrowed in on my target. Straight ahead were four stationary bikes, lighting up the dusk sky with their flashing red, white and blue lights. Bingo.
Of course my first instinct was to drop all of my belongings onto the ground and run to the funny bikes. I’m only human. Gripping onto the handlebars, I started to pedal, triggering lo-fi instrumentals from the base of the bike. I looked down to discover words projected onto the pavement to my right.
“Fields of energy web together.”
That’s odd. My friends hopped onto the other bikes, revealing more phrases.
“of light Shutte and sway, dancing.” “our constellations of light and light.” “abandon between us all.”
“Huh. Maybe it’s a puzzle,” my friend said.
After spending a little too long trying to decipher the code of the mysterious glowing bikes, we gave up and continued to wander until we stumbled across the first open ice cream shop we could find.
I later learned that the different phrases weren’t part of a secret message, but stanzas from Light Cycles, a poem by Poet Laureate for the State of Wisconsin Dasha Kelly Hamilton.
Light Lane is a fun stop to make while you’re walking down the river, and it’s an introspective work connecting light to the human experience, or it can even be a free alternative to a spin class if you’re feeling ambitious. But it doesn’t matter how you choose to enjoy Light Lane; it’s meant to be inclusive. This installation is equal parts entertaining and artsy, so it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.
