Mathias Kessler

With Pump it Up!, media artist Mathias Kessler presents an interactive art project that playfully combines the themes of energy generation, sustainability and work. At the centre of his considerations is the physical definition of work: energy is transferred through the application of force. Both visitors and bicyle couriers are invited to visualise this. The BIX media façade of the Kunsthaus Graz serves as the interface for this unusual interaction. As part of the programme accompanying the exhibition 24/7. Work between meaning and imbalance, Pump it up! reflects not only the examination of energy generation and social phenomena such as soul-cycling trends, but also the work of bicycle couriers, who shape the cityscape in bright colours to enable the desire for 24/7 consumption. 

The installation deliberately combines analogue and digital worlds, simulates a bicycle race or, as with popular soulcycling, creates a shared ecstasy of ‘training’ and ‘exhaustion’, which in this case drives a process. With the help of a bicycle generator, which is positioned in the basement of the Kunsthaus with a view of a screen that reproduces the BIX façade live, visitors can pedal themselves and thus activate an animated light installation. The energy generated is translated into ‘air dancers’, tubular figures that are normally powered by a fan and now dance digitally on the façade to visualise the connection between physical exertion and energy consumption. Kessler combines the aesthetics of 1980s video games, in which ‘high scores’ played a central role, with a critical reflection on the expenditure and use of energy in the entertainment industry. The effort expended by visitors and bicycle messengers is representative of the high level of effort required to generate energy today and points to the equally high energy requirements of the entertainment and advertising industries. 

On 19 October, the project will be complemented by a lecture by ethnologist Konstantin Mack on the role of bicycle couriers in urban spaces, followed by a discussion with the artist and other guests.