Dutch Artist Duo PolakVanBekkum Reveal New Mural in Cedar Park

Back in May, artistic duo Esther Polak and Ivar van Bekkum arrived from the Netherlands for a residency in Philadelphia at the University City Science Center called Art Along the Avenue of Technology. Seven months later, the hard work the duo (known as PolakVanBekkum) put into its residency has come alive in the form of a mural titled 250 Miles Crossing Philadelphia.

The mural, which lives at 780 South 52nd Street, explores the crossroads of art, science, and technology. The work includes satellite imagery, photography, and GPS imagery to represent technological development and mobility. This spring PolakVanBekkum‘s formal residency will end with a capstone multimedia screening that displays the sounds of Philadelphia alongside Google Earth and Google Street View images.

In a statement, Van Bekkum said, “Our art is about landscapes, maps and things that move around in there. One of the tools we use is GPS, which we use the way a painter uses a brush and sculptors use chisels. With it we draw lines, make dots, suggest depth and show movement. We use GPS tracks to listen to people, look at the landscape and tell stories.” The artists revealed the scrim mural—a cloth hanging, rather than a painted mural – last weekend.

Check out the pictures of 250 Miles Crossing Philadelphia above, or see it yourself at the old Apple Storage Building at 780 South 52nd Street. For more information on the project click here.