Installation Art

The Sidewalk Issue (Capsule Review)

Laura Hess

04 Jan 2022 • 2 min read

This image is a split screen of two photos. On the left is a photo taken of a yellow bike, locked up on the sidewalk. Late afternoon sun cuts across the urban scene. No one — no people or cars are in frame. On the right is a close-up of the bike; the focus is on a yellow placard attached to the bike where its seat should be. The placard includes “Mike, Bicycle” in a large black font, plus the quote, “Sometimes I feel like a part of me is missing.” — Photo: Pop-Up Magazine

[Original publication: No Proscenium, 6/22/21]

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“I, um, love gossip. So annnnytime I hear anything juicy on the sidewalk, I am all gears.” In downtown Los Angeles, I’m laughing as I listen to a recording through my headphones. “Mike,” the narrator, happens to be a yellow bicycle locked up on Hill Street. Mike’s account is a humorous and poignant window into the travails of an abandoned bike. Although the pandemic isn’t named, its presence is woven into the story and the bike metaphor fosters cathartic contemplation about our current, collective emotions.

Mike is part of Pop-Up Magazine’s Sidewalk Issue, which is a collection of multimedia stories in three U.S. neighborhoods: LA, San Francisco, and Brooklyn. An interactive scavenger hunt condensed into a few city blocks, the experience includes murals, printed materials, a film, and of course Mike, most of which are accompanied by audio in such forms as music, an interview, and fictionalized works (transcriptions are available for the spoken audio pieces). Guided by a map, QR codes at each installation offer up further details.

Utilizing innovative tech and analog devices, the Sidewalk Issue explores themes of loss, resilience, inequality, connection, and hope, often through the lens of the pandemic. A few narratives are text-laden, and the bite-sized, activated installations are more compelling and effective within the immediate context of a noisy, heavily-trafficked part of LA. However, the full experience includes resonant moments such as a restaurant take-out menu reconfigured into a moving story about Arturo Soto, an immigrant dishwasher, and his relentlessly optimistic approach to life. Through these stories, the Sidewalk Issue highlights the physical and emotional intersections in our busy, urban lives and serves as a wonderful reminder to look again — and look closer.