Cosmic Perception features a sculptural assemblage of stainless steel triangular kaleidoscopic forms, angled outward and upward to the sky like a telescope and echoing the dynamic burst of the Big Bang. Evoking the form and prismatic qualities of scientific prisms, the triangular tubes are capped at capped at both ends with color changing dichroic glass while the inner surface is highly polished to a mirror finish. The triangular tubes become monumental kaleidoscopes that offer visitors a different view of the Museum grounds, the sky, and the natural world around them.

As viewers move around the sculpture and look through different tubes, they encounter beautiful kaleidoscopic views that enable people to see their surroundings in a new way; a poetic metaphor for scientific discovery. The Museum landscape, architecture, moving cars and bikes, pedestrians and sky are as much part of the work as the built sculpture. The work also facilitates social interaction, as viewers see one another through a kaleidoscopic view. In this way, the viewer becomes an integral part of the installation and its complex reflections.

Images credits:  Science Museum Virginia and Arnie Stolberg