Révolution en vélo
Multimedia production Le Cyc is dystopia on wheels
by Ashley opheim
Le Cyc tells the story of a society powered by bicycles.GRAPHIC DAVID WILLEKES
e idea for multimedia performance Le Cyc came to visual artist David Willekes when his friend Eihab Boraie was touring across Canada with his band Special Purpose. A lot of bands tour, but not all of them do it on bicycles.
“I started thinking that all the biking they were doing could probably power a city,” said Willekes.
On that note, Willekes and Boraie embarked on Le Cyc, a performance based on the idea of a city that runs on bikes.
The whimsical show weaves together Willekes’ graphic novel-style illustrations and a live musical narrative performed by a six-piece orchestra. The projected images and music progress simultaneously, providing the audience with a multi-sensory experience.
A bike-powered society might sound like a utopia, but Willekes insists that “even though things are powered by bikes, [they] can still become corrupt and twisted.”
Set in an imagined dystopia, Le Cyc tells the story of revolutionary individuals who stand up against totalitarianism.
“It’s a creative exploration on how power is ‘pedalled’ in society,” said Boraie, pun intended.
Willekes adds his hand to nearly 400 painted images, with chosen mediums of “weak coffee and day old wine,” which he feels add to the proper tone of the dystopian society where Le Cyc unfolds.
After selling out their debut show at Guelph’s Kazoo Festival in September 2008, Le Cyc
has toured their spectacle around the greater area of Ontario. Since the debut, the project has been expanded with 100 illustrations, songs and an extended plot. Le Cyc will make its debut in Montreal this Saturday as a two-hour film.
A creative collective of seven bike-savvy artists and musicians also helped put together the show.
“Bikes are a big part of our lives,” explained Willekes. “Bikes are empowering. You have the freedom to travel at your own will. It puts you on your own schedule.”
The freedom of riding a bike stands in stark contrast to the political oppression depicted in Le Cyc.
“People can become very complacent with things,” said Boraie. “The longer we stay a certain way, the harder it is to change. Nothing is ever going to be perfect. It’s the feeling of persistent progress and never settling or being satisfied. It’s the idea of achieving.”
Le Cyc plays at Eastern Bloc (7240 Clark St.) on Oct. 17 at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $8.
The Link Volume 30 Issue 25