Here's my first permanent public artwork, "Periscopes." When you look through its bulbous lenses, you see scenes that might seem faraway, such as heron stalking their prey; but all of the footage was filmed (by me) within 10mi of its site at Buzzard Point in southwest Washington, D.C., USA.
I worked with a team to install this artwork yesterday. Steelwork by Steven R. Jones.
A side view shows the artwork's proximity to a central square within its host development.
A close-up view shows another natural scene, this time showing a swamp. There is a hood over the end of the artwork, akin to a traffic light or signal. It has big chunky bolts.
From a few feet away, their setting is more apparent. They are at two different heights, pointed, as if curious creatures, in two different directions.
In a brick-lined planter along a quiet breezeway, two periscope-like grey pipes erupt from the ground like brontosauruses. They each are painted industrial grey and are roughly person-sized. From this angle, the closer "Periscope" reveals a bulbous screen that is displaying a watery natural scene.
Here's a video view that gives you a sense of what it's like to peer in the screen. The scenes are fairly still, changing every 30-60 seconds; not dynamic enough to watch like a video per se, but more like an ever-changing picture frame.
Artwork permalink with more videos: https://chriscombs.net/2025/09/24/periscopes/
