MOG

Between his "Playing the Building" installation, the forthcoming "Big Love" soundtrack, his new self-released full-length collaboration with Brian Eno, and some big tour plans, David Byrne is having a busier summer than most of us have years.

Now we can add "bike rack designs" to the list of the former Talking Head's summer output. According to The New York Times, the New York City Department of Transportation has just installed a bunch of Byrne's bike racks across the city.

The New York Times reports that Byrne, an avid cyclist, was recruited to be on the jury for the CityRacks Design Competition, the city's search for new bike rack designs. He also submitted a few designs of his own, which the city decided to make and install while continuing on with the competition. Thus, Byrne gets to remain a judge, and various New York City sidewalks get location-appropriate bike racks.

Those racks include "The Wall Street" (shaped like a dollar sign), "The Hipster" (shaped like an electric guitar and located in Williamsburg), "The MoMA" (an abstract shape outside of the museum of the same name), "Mudflap Tammy" (shaped like the female outline on mudflaps and located in Times Square), and five others. All of these racks were installed on Friday, August 8, and will remain in place for a year, according to the Times. Then they will be sold as works of art.

The Times reports that Byrne is continuing his cyclical activities by "writing a nonfiction book called Cycling Diaries, scheduled to appear in 2009."

David Byrne and Brian Eno will digitally self-release their Everything That Happens Will Happen Today on August 18. (Physical release details are forthcoming.) Byrne's "Big Love" soundtrack disc, Big Love: Hymnal, follows on August 19. For backstory on Byrne's creation of the "Big Love" music, go here.

Byrne will embark on his "Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno" tour starting September 16 in Bethlehem, PA. No word on whether he will be making the trek by bicycle.

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