Acid mine drainage (AMD) and acid rock drainage (ARD) are two environmentally harmful conditions which are common at abandoned mine sites, often acidifying local fresh water sources, in turn poisoning local marine and terrestrial ecologies. Natural attenuation of AMD/ARD has been observed on sites where waste rock heaps are compacted, limiting the flow of water and oxygen. Another technique - the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) – is a deep trench filled with material which selectively neutralises acidic elements in ground water as it flows through naturally.

Over many years a spatially linked set of individual Black Box Festival sites incrementally envelope the abandoned mine. A PRB is installed at each location during a festival, eventually isolating the source of groundwater contamination. Each year event stages are positioned atop each waste rock heap so that gradual and persistent compaction of the surface layer is affected. Over time the active toxic elements are contained within each heap, effectively neutralising its damaging effects. Festival infrastructure becomes ecological observation infrastructure powered by the wind and the sun, measuring groundwater contamination on site.

Black Box is a cultural vehicle for the celebration of the leftover spaces of urbanisation, a catalyst for the natural attenuation of AMD/ARD impacts, and a testing facility for the new methods of active remediation.