SLAG GARDEN
2026 On view
Artist Chris Carl
DetailsBronze fountain, data conduit, restoration plants, water, offline LLM, sediment sock, wooden pallets, slag, concrete, cameras, speakers
Curator Stefanie Hessler
Address
2300 Falling Springs Rd
Sauget, IL
Site Description
Accessibility: This campus is outdoors at a postindustrial steel foundry and not fully ADA accessible. For your safety, closed-toe shoes are required. Visitors may explore the campus. Please remain mindful of your surroundings, stay on designated visitor routes and refrain from climbing on artifacts. Visitors under 18 years of age require supervision. Report any unsafe conditions to staff immediately. Portable ADA restrooms are available. Rideshare apps may not pick up from this location. Stay on the designated path in the prairie. Open Fri–Sat, 10 am – 5 pm by appointment only on other days. To book an appointment, email staff@nationalbuildingartscenter.org.
Artwork Details
About the Artwork
Chris Carl is a St. Louis–based artist and designer working in public art, ecology, and landscape architecture. For SLAG GARDEN, Carl installed a living system of plants, water, sound, and recycled materials in a postindustrial landscape. Eight raised garden beds made from sediment socks and filled with steel-industry slag and wooden pallets surround a fountain from the National Building Arts Center collection, designed by architect Gyo Obata for the St. Louis Zoo. Drought-tolerant plants, hidden speakers, and evolving audio recordings trace the movement of water and pollutants through the landscape. AI-generated voices read about environmental studies and the industrial history of Sauget, IL and can be heard through listening hatches. Two live cameras also generate imagery of the project’s ongoing transformation.
This project is supported by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation’s Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, The Hearthland Foundation, and HOK and was initiated alongside ongoing ecological efforts in collaboration with NON STNDRD and NBAC.