ESCAPED INFRASTRUCTURE

ESCAPED INFRASTRUCTURE was a site-specific temporary installation that introduced a new dynamic to the Manayunk Canal, a remnant of Philadelphia’s industrial past. The artwork was a collaboration between the Manayunk Development Corporation, the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and design studio Thoughtbarn. Inspired by the networks of pipes, tubes and wires along the canal, we conceived of the piece as infrastructure ‘breaking loose’ to create unexpected experiences along the towpath.

Performance & Materials
A series of water pumps in the canal were activated by motion sensors as visitors walked along the towpath. The water was drawn up through a 50’ long bundle of clear tubes, becoming visible to passers-by on the adjacent busy street as well as on the canal. As it poured out of the other end it also lent the canal a new audible quality – the water could be heard for the first time. Integrated LED lights created a glowing effect at night, allowing the installation to be seen from several hundred feet away after dark.

Public Response
ESCAPED INFRASTRUCTURE appeared both alien and familiar. On the one hand, the material palette of tubes and structural ribs created the quality of “something that has always been here”. Cyclists often passed by at high speed without looking twice. On the other hand, pedestrians, traveling at slower speeds, were intrigued. We observed a mix of head-scratching, debate and delight as people realized that the water activity related to their movements (“I never thought I’d see something like this along the canal”). Some assumed it must be utilitarian (“Is this a water filtration system?”). A slight time delay between the sensor activation and the water movement gave the impression of the installation “having a life of its own.”

Transformation Over Time
Indeed, over its six-week lifetime, ESCAPED INFRASTRUCTURE did become a kind of living organism. Designed in part to heighten awareness of the canal’s water quality, the installation had a ‘science experiment’ aspect to it. Initially the water passing through it appeared “surprisingly clean”, at least in relation to the murky appearance of the canal. However, the crystalline quality of the artwork began to transform after heavy rains, when increased sediment from stormwater runoff was deposited in the tubes. Gradually the clear tubes turned into a spectrum of greens, browns and blacks. Counter-intuitively perhaps, the most
radical color transformations occurred in the tubes with the greatest volume of water passing through them. At the same time, the canal changed visibly as summer temperatures intensified, with increased algae formation on the surface of the water. Micro-habitats also started to develop. Spiders, attracted to the night-time illuminations, spun webs between the tubes and structural frameworks.

Location Note: This temporary project is no longer on view at this location.