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Origin of Color by Charles Ross
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.
Origin of Color
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.

Origin of Color

Artist
Year1976
Classification sculpture
Medium acrylic with mineral oil
Dimensionstwenty-seven prisms, each: 1 x 1 x 9 ft. (30.5 x 30.5 x 274.3 cm)
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location


  • Dimensions: Each acrylic prism is slightly less than 1 foot high by 1 foot deep by about 9 feet long. There are 27 prisms total.



    When installed in 1976, spotlights in the prisms dispersed rainbows throughout tehheezzanine area of the building. The triangular prisms reflect and refract the surrounding light. The artist intends the viewer to consider the form of the prism and transparent quality that allows the room to be viewed through the prism.