Installation view. Poisoned Well consists of a transparent tank filled with water. The names of the 70 most toxic chemicals used in hydro fracking, those that have 10 or more negative health affects, are silkscreen printed onto a roll of water soluble paper. The roll is suspended over the transparent tank. A slowly rotating motor lowers the paper into the water tank. Upon touching the water, the paper dissolves and the text, which does not dissolve, cascades to the bottom. Over a period of days a build up of letters and cloudy paper pulp accumulates at the bottom of the tank, making clearly visible the seemingly invisible potential negative effects of hydro fracking on human health.
At the end of the exhibition the accumulated pulp and text is bottled as "Produced water" (the name of fracked waste water).
All images copyright Tatana Kellner