5 Minutes with the Creators of Rider Spoke

Led by artists Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr and Nick Tandavanitj, the award-winning artist group Blast Theory, is best-known for creating interactive art drawing on popular culture, performance, technology and games. This May, they bring their interactive work Rider Spoke to Brighton Festival from Sat 1 May to Sun 23 May.

Rider Spoke premiered with a sold-out season at the Barbican in London and has since been shown in 20 cities worldwide. Guided by an app, Rider Spoke invites you to cycle through the streets of Brighton to search for the perfect place to hide a secret. While you search, record messages and share them with strangers you will never meet. 

We speak to artist Nick Tandavanitj to find out more about the work and how you can take part.

How would you describe Rider Spoke? 

Intimate. Freeing. Funny.

What do you hope people will take away from taking part in Rider Spoke?

By taking part in Rider Spoke, audiences are invited to share something of themselves and listen to others doing the same. It’s always surprising how open people can be: sometimes witty, sometimes shocking. We hope the show gives people a new sense of belonging – to those who’ve taken part and to the city itself. 

Rider Spoke is an example of how cultural experiences can happen as we emerge from the pandemic: naturally socially distanced, it offers an experience that connects you with others.The work is about intimacy through distance: you take part alone and follow your own route, but you feel a deep connection with strangers by listening to their recordings and sharing your own.Each day, new recordings from audience members are added to the work – so Rider Spoke at Brighton Festival 2021 will be unique to Brighton. 

‘A gloriously enlivening piece of theatre ...the show’s greatest gift is that it manages to embrace the remorseless rush of the City while insisting on the individual’s ability to pierce it with quiet reflection.’ Metro

What you most looking forward to about this year’s Brighton Festival?

Brighton Festival is always the time that Brighton comes to life and the atmosphere on the street is palpable. Hopefully, Rider Spoke will be the perfect way to kick off culture in the city after such a long break.

Rider Spoke is kindly supported by BTN Bikeshare
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