Hinkley, California
October 2002
During the final weekends of October 2002 a collective of artists, researchers,and alternative energy aficionados met in the Mojave Desert to experiment with structures, concepts, and strategies used in the effort of collecting water within our arid regions. Locating themselves within the town of Hinkley, most known for its connection to Erin Brockovich and its contaminated groundwater, the participants built simple water-harvesting works in the hopes of realizing projects that took months to conceptualize and develop.
Assembled by coordinator/artist Claude Willey, the team constructed simple dry wells, artificial aquifers, qanats, simulated wadis, mechanical dew collectors, temporary showers and soil shading. Though few involved had had any experience working in such a manner, the art/science connections within this event should provide interesting results whether measurable or not. Participants included Kahty Chenoweth, Adam Belt, Deena Capparelli, Mark Tsang, Peter Fend, Susan Barnet and Bernard Perroud.
Moisture 2,
scheduled for October 2003, is now well underway and is in the middle stages
of planning. Look for an update at www.greenmuseum.org
 |
||
|
Desert
Shade by Bernard Perroud
|
||
"I
am checking the area from time to time, noting animal traces and lairs,
state of vegetation etc... Plants do seem to flourish slightly better under
the shade, in particular where there is the most rock cover." --Bernard
Perroud
 |
 |
|
 |
||
| Glass Condenser by Bernard Perroud |
Fake
Ginger by Bernard Perroud
|
- Fake Ginger. I've noticed dew on the leaves of a ginger plant and reproduced it as a dew collector. The stem is a metal pipe connected to a small glass tube set underground, the leaves (metal sheet and styrofoam) act as a funnel.
- The Glass condenser is in fact a X-Mas tree ornament shut with a cork. I hope that the difference of temperature will condensate the trapped air.
