Duct Tape Bike Wheel Art

I was asked to make an art piece for the Spye Benefit Action. All the art entered is made from a 3 spoke bike wheel.The money raised was all given to the Minnesota Cycling Museum and local children with cancer.

I decided to decorate my wheel with duct tape. The mosaic pattern was inspired by the mosaic work of Gaudi. Each piece was hand cut equaling almost 900 duct tape pieces.

- White, black, orange, and red duct tape

- A bike wheel (or anything else you wish to decorate)

- X acto knife with cutting board

- Matte finishing spray (optional)

Before cutting any duct tape, I drew out a sketch of what I wanted the wheel to look like by tracing the wheel onto paper.

For the first layer of duct tape, I coved the whole wheel in white duct tape. Then by using the sketch I made earlier as a reference, I cut out the orange pieces and stuck them on the wheel. I made these pieces longer than I need so I could wrap the extra length around towards the back of the wheel.

To add the black lines, I cut out individual black rectangles. Then placed them on the inside of the orange edge.

For the next step, I free hand cut out different size triangles out of the white duct tape. Then I placed them onto the orange. When placing them on the wheel, it reminds me of a puzzle because you need to cut triangles that fit together.

Next, I cut out different sized black triangles and randomly placed them on the edge of the orange tape.

Again, I filled in the white sections by cutting different sized red triangles.

After this, I sprayed a matte clear coat over the whole wheel. by doing this, it prevents the duct tape from peeling. When looking for a clear coat, make sure it is made to cover plastic. This is because duct tape has a similar texture as plastic.