MARK BREST VAN KEMPEN ENVIRONMENTAL ART
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Filtration Unit 1
2002
Pasadena
This six storey sculpture uses plants and fungi to clean and recycle contaminated water. Water used to wash parking lots is cycled through this sculpture. The water first drips through bags of Oyster mushrooms which digest PCB’s- toxic chemicals found in gasoline and oil. It is then divided up into capillaries of vinyl tubing and slowly run through Sword fern roots which provide bacteria to further break down pollutants. The water is then collected in a tank which periodically waters decorative plants in the courtyard.
The movement of the water can be observed as thousands of tiny bubbles slowly moving down the clear tubing.
This project is one of a series of sculptures merging architecture and infrastructure with habitats for plants and animals and in this case also has the byproduct of cleaning water.
