Multiplicity of perspectives: Prismatic by Hou de Sousa

Prismatic, an installation designed by Hou de Sousa, is a kaleidoscope of light, colour and space set up at Senator Charles H. Percy Plaza in the heart of Georgetown Waterfront Park. Involving interwoven iridescent cords fastened to black rebar frames, the gaps in the resulting lattice lead to visual superimpositions and thus a moiré effect.

Developed in a number of stages, the design is based on systematic separation of the basic structure into nine different prismatic blocks. This division corresponds with perspective views from the Potomac River, a fountain and a nearby avenue of trees. Straight lines starting out from the relative positions of these contextual features, as the architect calls them, cut through the basic structure like forest aisles.

This splits the block at a central point into its prismatic component parts.  The result of the Prismatic installation is a myriad of apertures and perspectives, collectively concentrated on a core point but simultaneously determined by one's vantage point and relative position within and outside the sculpture.