BikeTAG: Colour Keepers - Playable City

Interactive Light Art Game

BikeTAG is a game system of led lights, proximity sensors and a Smartphone application. Originally created in 2012 during the Playable City Sprint, hosted by Watershed and the British Council.

Cyclists emerge from an alley riding bikes adorned with bright green lights.

Stopping to check their map, participants' bike light up in green to illuminate a tree lined path in brilliant colour.

Created by

Tine Bech

Made in collaboration with Bang and Lee (Korea) and Julian Stykes (Wales)

Supported by Bristol City Council and Arts Council England

Photos by Max McClure

Orginally commissioned by Playable City, Watershed and the Bristol Enterprise Zone

Presented at

Bristol Enterprise Zone

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Cyclists race through the streets, activating the lights in their bikes.

A group of adults get ready to ride their illuminated bikes.

In a unique commission for Bristol Temple Quarter, the BikeTAG light system was used within an innovative street game that lit up Bristol’s Enterprise Zone. The new commission ‘Colour Keepers’ was designed to help re-invent perceptions of the Enterprise Zone, the area surrounding Bristol’s Temple Meads Station.

Part exploration, part battle, part collaboration, part art experience, Colour Keepers was a chance to play on bikes in the city, set colours free and co-create light trails using the BikeTAG light system. With five colours to set free, players explored the Zone as they battled to win.

The game ran at dusk on Sat 18th and Sun 19th May and was used as a public Play Test to gather feedback from players. This was the very first game created using the BikeTAG system, and the very first time it was played with a full line-up of participants.