Much to our dismay, all of the abandoned bicycles we have gathered over the past three weeks were confiscated by the police on friday night.

This is a major blow to our project, which we can view in many different ways. On one hand, we are lucky that we weren't actually arrested. The situation was awkward for all parties involved--the police seemed somewhat hesitant to accuse us of theft, as the bikes were clearly abandoned, but we also didn't go through the 'proper' channels, so they had to react. But on the other hand, it raises many questions about appropriation, art and authority, and property rights. Were we wrong to take the bicycles?

I believe we were NOT wrong. We carefully examined each bicycle before deciding to appropriate it. Four of the five bicycles had been left on the CCRMA bike racks since at least September 2004, untouched. The fifth had been laying, unlocked, against the same tree for over a year, according to one team member. None of the bicycles which we took were locked, and all were in a state of disrepair (i.e. missing wheels, missing seats, no chain, etc.). The bicycle were obviously abandoned, and were doing nothing except creating clutter around campus.

Now that the police have the bicycles in their posession, what will come of them? They certainly won't be returned to the rightful owners, for they are long gone. No, they will most likely end up in a dumpster or locked away in storage, which costs Stanford (and consequently its students) money. Instead of becoming a thoughtful musical instrument, the bicycles will go to waste.

Either way, our materials have been confiscated, and we must figure out another direction to go in.