In what is a first for Waterloo region, and all of Canada, local artists Nicholas Rees and Aggie Beynon have collaborated on a unique piece of sculpture incorporating a remarkable new type of cement that literally eats air pollution.

Known as TX Active Photocatalytic Cement, manufactured by Essroc Italcementi Group, the cement contains Titanium Dioxide and is able to break down air pollutants through a photocatalytic process that uses light to alter the speed of a chemical reaction, creating strong oxidizing reagents that result in the decomposition of organic and inorganic pollutants including Nitrogen Oxide, Sulphur Oxide, and particulate matter. The result is a material that not only maintains a clean surface, but also one which cleans the air immediately surrounding it. Since the principle ingredient is a catalyst that accelerates a natural oxidation process and is not consumed by it, the effect is both permanent and on-going.

The sculpture was presented as a work in progress at Harbinger Gallery, Waterloo, as part of the spOtlight Festival, held the weekend of June 5 -7, 2009. Following tests by Essroc to assure product compatibility, the work has been cemented by the artists and will be placed on display for one year outside Harbinger Gallery.

Aggie Beynon is the founder of Harbinger Gallery as well as a practicing metalsmith noted for her work with the reactive metals Niobium and Titanium in addition to co-developing a patentable powdered metal process. She is also the founder of Brush With Art, a grass roots fundraiser for the visual arts. Nicholas Rees has developed several innovative techniques in both printmaking and cement sculpture, and is the founder and director of the Kitchener Industrial Artifacts Project, a project that celebrates and helps to preserve the manufacturing heritage of Waterloo region.