Science Center/ Esther + Ivar

PolakVanBekkum, an artist duo from the Netherlands, worked in Philadelphia from May to November 2014 on the Science Center’s campus as part of a unique place-making and community engagement program Art Along the Avenue of Technology. Esther Polak and Ivar van Bekkum explored the intersection of art and technology along Market Street as they built an online GPS-based navigation documentary, which followed the movements of both objects and people as they moved throughout Philadelphia. The duo then created a visualization of the routes using Google Earth. RAIR was selected as one of the sites in PolakVanBekkum’s compilation. They fixed high-end recording equipment on a front-end loader to document sound and environment around the machinery. A GPS-tracking unit was also attached to the heavy machinery, recording the activity of the operator’s movement through the recycling yard over the course of 2 hours and approximately 4 miles.