Brief Project Overview

-bike 3,435.5 miles, the length and shape of the border of the country of Afghanistan inside of the United States

-starting and ending at the World Trade Center site in Manhattan, NYC in the summer of 2011

-hand building bike trailer out of bamboo, steel and sheet aluminum

-interacting with the public to engage in a dialogue about the U.S. and Afghan situation, strictly gathering public sentiment, I am taking a neutral stance withing the framework of this project

Who?

Joseph Bigley

M.F.A. in Sculpture from Alfred University, 2008.

www.joebigley.com

Project Objectives

This symbolic act is to gauge public opinion of the conflict in Afghanistan as well as to point at the curious nature of the idea of national political boundaries. By traveling the designated route, I will be engaging in a dialogue with individuals regarding their personal thoughts on the U.S. involvement with Afghanistan.

How?

This performance work will take place atop a bicycle. By biking an average of 60 mile per day, not including the stops to give lectures, actual riding days should be approximately 60 days. I am hand building the bicycle trailer out of bamboo, steel and sheet aluminum.

When?

TFBD will begin on May 12, 2011 at Ground Zero in Manhattan. 2011 marks the tenth year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and consequently the 10th year of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. July, 2011, is the projected time period when the troop surge in Afghanistan is to begin to be downsized. My return to Ground Zero in Manhattan is projected to occur in mid-August, 2011.

May 12, 2011 marks the 90th birthday of German artist Joseph Beuys.

Why?

I have developed a curiosity with the way in which American involvement with other countries permeates American culture here. This project's collection of public opinion serves as an unaffiliated source of information, to offer a poll of sorts, that is not linked to any institution with a personal agenda. Hence, my intention to navigate through my role in this project as objectively as possible.

The action itself acts a symbolic sign of solidarity for both the U.S. troops and the Afghani civilians displaced and effected by the conflict. TFBD extends to all of those dispersed by war. This temporary displacement and routed nomadism is an action intended to be a sympathetic gesture.

Up-to-date Progress on Process

Four art institutions have agreed to have me speak so far for TFBD. As of 9/11/2010 the list of institutions are: the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, N.C., the Asheville Museum of Art, and the McDonough Museum of Art in Youngstown, P.A. Many thanks to these folks.

Details of Ideas Driving TFBD

There has been a long history of artists working from an angle of social critic or commentator. From Goya to William Pope L.,