Creative Work Fund Biofiltration Project for Benicia Waterfront

Project artist - Mark Brest van Kempen

We have come up with a temporary project that touches on some of the drainage and clean water issues that might be addressed in permanent design elements (such as rain gardens) in the final design of the waterfront.

Because we can't do any excavation or major alterations of the site for a temporary project, we have opted to created a scaled down working model showing what bio-filtration does. This will show some benefits of both a constructed element such as rain garden and also what the nearby wetlands are doing every day.

The attached illustration shows the basic idea (I'm sure there will be changes and adjustments as we progress). A holding container is periodically filled with water from a variety of sources around Benicia (creeks, run-off, etc). We are planning a number of "fillings" from individual sources (week 1: water from a local creek, week 2: water from run off source, etc). The gathering of the water and the transfer of the water into the piece can be a series of community events.

This water then slowly trickles through a labyrinthine planting of wetland plants and is then collected in a covered container. The water may be recirculated through the wetland several times using a solar pump. We are hoping to get some interest to test the water before and after treatment. 

The project will not only educate the public about the role of plants in water filtration, it will also draw attention to the state of some water sources that flow into the Carquinez Strait.

The scale of the piece will be approximately 20' wide wetland (the configuration may change, i.e. a more oblong design may be more appropriate to the site than the circular design shown). Vertical holding container will be approx. 12' high (out of easy reach).

Project location: Benicia California, downtown waterfront.

The following is a list of possible concerns that we will address in the design:

-No standing open water for mosquitos to breed or drowning hazard.

-Piece will have a barrier surrounding it not shown in image.

-Piece will be designed to be easily mowed around.

-Any damage or death to sod will be replaced by us after the piece comes down.

-Structure will be built of 2x4 and plywood construction that will support people if someone climbed onto it.

-Plantings will be tacked in place with netting to minimize disruption by animals or people.

-Accompanying signage will discuss the role of plants in biofiltration and the possibilities of rain garden and bio swales in helping to solve some of the flooding problems on site.

-Plans will be reviewed by my structural engineer.

Artist to meld art, environment at the Benicia waterfront by Amy Maginnis-Honey, Fairfield Daily Republic

Artist to meld art, environment at the Benicia waterfront

January 24, 2014

 

 

FAIRFIELD — Mark Brest van Kempen looks at home on the First Street Green Culture Park in Benicia.

That’s good, because the Oakland artist will be spending a lot of time there. He is starting a residency with Arts Benicia. The focus is the city’s waterfront that backs up to the First Street Green.

The project, “Benicia Waterfront Social Sculpture,” is a series of three temporary art installations at various sites. Each will look at different environmental aspects of the location and will involve Brest van Kempen and other area artists. It is funded by a $30,000 Creative Work Fund grant.

Brest van Kempen is the artist behind many prominent public art projects, including the Free Speech Monument at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 2000, Brest van Kempen, with the help of Grange Middle School students, created a moveable marsh in a Dumpster that rotated between some of Fairfield’s busiest parking lots. It was part of the “CityArts Fairfield” year-long exploration of environmental art.

Brest van Kempen grew up in Utah. Outside his back door was the wilderness. He would often hike near where he lived in the Wasatch Front area. The land was developed when Brest van Kempen was a young adult.

“I saw these places get transformed into houses,” he said. “That instilled me with the idea that as we build, we should do it in a thoughtful, generous way.”

Much of his artwork uses the landscape as sculptural material. His ideas for the Benicia waterfront follow that theme. One includes a “floating marsh” that would use plants to clean and filter water from storm drains.

Another could be a sculpture, designed to attract birds, on the piers. The birds would roost and feed there, Brest von Kempen said. He’s even given thought to having motion sensor cameras near the sculptures to see which attracts the most bird visitors. The creating artist would win a prize.

Brest van Kempen has worked on projects from Seattle to China. He was recently invited by the German government to submit designs for a national reunification monument.

He’s working on a public art project for San Jose’s wastewater treatment plant.

On a smaller scale, some of his work can be seen in the current Art of a Community exhibit at Arts Benicia.

“The work is just beginning,” he said of the Benicia project. “I’m trying to take things we are familiar with and put them in a new context. A more useful use of art. ”

Reach Amy Maginnis-Honey at 427-6957 or amaginnis@dailyrepublic.net. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/amaginnisdr.