Arden Bendler Browning

"Elastic Geography", 2021.  Exterior mural for Yards Brewery in Philadelphia, 25'x140'. 

curated by Bridgette Mayer and Ryan Strand Greenberg; managed by Andrea Grasso; assisted by Marcus Hines and Daniel Lipchutz, sponsored by Yards Brewery and Alliance HP, Julia and David Fleischner, City of Philadelphia. 

photos by Evan Schmitt, Andrea Grasso, Corey Fox

(title comes from an excerpt of Robert MacFarlane’s book “Underland : A Deep Time Journey”)

Using colors derived from Yards' current product labels and selected landmarks around the immediate neighborhood, I composed these paintings while looking at photographs I took of the elaborate equipment and machinery inside the brewery as well as Google street views of the surrounding neighborhood at different times of year and day. The resulting marks are gestural and abstract, echoing the energy and ongoing fluctuation and transition within the community where Yards is located – and which I know well, from having lived, worked and parented here for the last 17 years. Behind this wall, huge stacks of bottles and cans resemble an indoor city skyline, and the intricate tubing and conduits mirror the conveyance of people through the streets, train lines and highways that are so much a part of the Northern Liberties neighborhood.

Circular portals offer the possibility of imagined worlds within that space. The background colors come from my experience working in infinite virtual space, and also allude to the in between times of dusk, dawn and twilight.

My hope is that this mural will provide a visual respite and excitement for people walking and driving up 5th street, and upon closer inspection will place the Yards building within a long history of cityscape evolution from past through future.