Artist Creates Device That Increases Pedaling Resistance Amid Housing Crisis
Justin Blinder found inspiration for Ground Truth during a challenging time in 2020, just before the world went into lockdown. After losing his job, he began working for food delivery apps, cycling through Brooklyn and observing the stark contrasts between neighborhoods. “I became more aware of how different areas, often right next to each other, could feel economically and psychologically distant, despite their proximity,” he reflected. He noted how physical factors, like elevation, could influence a neighborhood’s desirability and housing costs.
These insights sparked his thoughts on the connection between the food he delivered, the neighborhoods he traversed, and the expectations he formed about tips. “All of this led to the concept of Ground Truth, which had been brewing in my mind for a few years,” Blinder explained.
Ground Truth is an innovative art project featuring a small gray box that attaches to a bike’s front fork, adjusting the physical effort required to ride based on the housing affordability of the area. In neighborhoods with lower housing costs, pedaling is easier, while in areas where housing takes a larger chunk of residents’ incomes, the bike’s resistance increases, making it harder to ride.
“It’s about transforming economic abstractions, like cost-of-living prices, from mere numbers into a tangible physical experience rooted in reality,” he said. After scrapping some initial ideas due to potential legal issues, Blinder opted for an external mechanism that interacts with the bike without altering its internal electronics. Using a Citi Bike as his test subject, he discovered that the front drum-brake mechanism was accessible. By attaching a wireless device to the brake lever, he could create an additional brake actuator to modulate the bike’s resistance.
The hardware is straightforward, featuring an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, a GPS module, a high-torque servo motor for precise control, and an SD card reader for local data storage. Importantly, the device operates offline, without tracking a rider’s location. “The real challenge was designing an enclosure that fit seamlessly onto the bike frame without extra hardware,” Blinder noted.
Finding the right housing data proved to be the biggest hurdle. He ultimately chose the US government’s American Community Survey’s Rent Burden dataset to accurately reflect the proportion of income spent on rent and utilities. He uses two metrics: the median share of income spent on rent and the percentage of renting households that allocate at least half their income to housing. Each census block group is assigned a value that determines the brake tension applied by the device.
After testing it out, Blinder discovered that riding through areas with significant public housing, like those managed by NYCHA, resulted in easier pedaling. Conversely, luxury buildings that include affordable units added complexity to the affordability landscape. “It can be tough to discern what is truly affordable,” he admitted.
Initially, Blinder considered organizing group rides with Citi Bikes but hesitated due to potential legal ramifications. He’s also exploring ways to enhance Ground Truth’s social interactivity as an art project, such as allowing riders to contribute to the experience or incorporating additional datasets to highlight various urban and socioeconomic issues. The project has the potential to evolve significantly over time. “It’s about challenging our assumptions regarding affordability and finding ways to disrupt those perceptions,” he concluded.
