Ghost Bikes of Chicago
Project Location: Chicago, IL
The Chicago ghost bike project is a volunteer effort where bikes are painted white and locked near sites where cyclists have been killed. These tragic markers serve as warnings for other bikers, poignant memorials to the deceased, and raise awareness of the dangers of reckless driving. For this project, I studied ghost bike locations in Chicago, modified a Chicago biking timeline with ghost bike dates, and created a zine in the style of a religious tract with a personal story about getting doored. I also staged an intervention on Lincoln near Irving Park, spray-painting a stencil of tattoo-style angel wings with a victim’s initials above the seat of a bike lane marker to mark the site of a ghost bike that had been removed.
© Dena van der Wal |