Designboom_suspended over the lawn of grace church in georgetown DC, ‘atomic’ by hou de sousa is an iridescent installation composed of colorful hula hoops and fishnet fabric. as its name suggests, the bright canopy of color has been realized by the design duo as ‘an ode to the tiny particles that shape our universe, filling an otherwise infinite vacuum with energy, gravity, variety and light.’ on display between december 5, 2019 and january 5, 2020, the work forms part of georgetown GLOW – an annual light art festival.

given its proximity to a church, the installation’s multi-hued facets have been designed to establish a contextual link with the stained-glass windows of the neighboring building. additionally, hou de sousa has created ‘atomic’ in reference to the bokeh effect – a phenomenon that occurs when points of light are photographed out of focus. fastened to a custom nylon net, the spectrum of colored hoops appear to float in mid-air, resulting in an eye-catching piece to illuminate the area during the dark winter months.