Spiral Wetland
A project for Artosphere 2013, Fayetteville, Arkansas

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Spiral Wetland is based on the Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson, the most famous and enduring of the land art pieces. Spiral Wetland reaches back to the beginning of eco-art but envisions the next stage of our thinking: to heal and transform the environment for better. This project makes a sustainable change to an historic form.

Floating wetlands have been used recently for water treatment in New Zealand, Australia, China, Singapore, Canada and the United States. They are a form of bio-mimicry: re-creating the natural processes at work in a typical wetland. These constructed wetlands help to remove excess nutrients from water, by exposing the water to microbial processes facilitated by the plants and organic matter of the soil. They work to improve water quality and produce much needed wetland habitats for fish and other water creatures, while reminding us of the roots of land art.

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