What do you get when you take lush plants, dirt, water, discarded water bottles, and put them all together? A beautiful, but purpose-driven, eco-art sculpture.

CuriOdyssey’s Artist-in-Residence, Mark Brest van Kempen, recently installed an environmentally-minded, filtration sculpture in our outdoor pavilion. The piece is very visually interesting and, because it’s so striking, some may see it only for that. But don’t be fooled be it’s pretty exterior. There’s more than meets the eye. The sculpture was created not only to be aesthetically pleasing, but also to show how to water is filtered using biological processes. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Mark about the structure he created and ask him about its environmental importance.

According to Mark, “…as water moves through the human world (our drains, cities, rooftops, even our bodies) it picks up byproducts of our lives. Many of these substances are not healthy for the environment but end up in streams, bays, and oceans. We’ve all seen the iridescent sheen of oil coming off a parking lot during rain. Add to that the pesticides used in gardens, pharmaceuticals flushed down the toilet, and industrial byproducts, the scope of the problem becomes apparent. These filtration units are sculptural experiments in slowing down and filtering water using biological processes. They can be seen as models for larger scale projects that can be implemented in downspouts, storm drain systems, and many other applications throughout a watershed.”

The next time you visit us, take a moment to investigate the filtration unit sculpture, and observe what’s happening. Can you think of other places in the environment where a water filtration unit might be useful?

Check out more photos of the installation on our Flickr stream.

To see some of Mark’s other environmental art installations, go here.