Summer Zeringue’s art installation stands outside the confines of traditional pieces with its bright, vibrant colors in an otherwise boring scene of concrete and constant green along the levee near campus.
The ceramics and sculpture senior received special permission from the city of Baton Rouge to display her final senior project on the railing along the stairs of the levee at the intersection of Skip Bertman Drive and River Road.
The piece is entitled “Prism” and uses colorful plastic vinyl to absorb sunlight and project bright colors onto the concrete steps leading up to the levee.
As viewers approach the levee, they may be drawn to the streaks of brilliant color flowing up the otherwise ordinary steps. The shadows of the plastic fabric project onto the gray canvas of the stairs and almost look like chalk drawings.
The radiant installation also incorporates social media to promote and share people’s experiences with it. Zeringue created the hashtag “#PrismBR” so when someone takes photos with or around the piece, she can track their reactions.
“I really want people to know about it and interact with it to show who they are through it,” Zeringue said.
Zeringue said she got the idea to integrate social media after she saw reactions to her piece last year. The piece was similar to “Prism” in that it used the same type of material, but it was more of a tunnel structure located downtown, she said.
She said she started seeing photos with the hashtag “smells like a swimming pool,” so she decided to add the social media element to her next piece.
She said because of the infusion of social media into her piece, she would rather see people posing or featuring themselves with the installation rather than just posting photos of it. So far, she has had around 30 posts on Instagram, but her favorite posts are those that showcase the personalities of the people taking the photos, she said.
Zeringue said this idea of including social media in art will be a major part of how art is communicated in the future.
“Social media is such a huge deal today, so I think artists will start taking advantage of it,” Zeringue said.
She said because it’s a site-specific piece, the installation was designed and created for the exact location. She said the stairs going up the levee were perfect because she is enjoys using shadows in her artwork.
Though the final result was an illuminating success, Zeringue said she went through an extensive process to secure the space on city property. It took more than a month for Baton Rouge Downtown Development officials to give her permission to begin work on the piece, she said.
While many of her classmates chose to do multiple projects for the senior project, Zeringue said she chose to take on her larger, more extensive installation.
“I think this project will open doors for other students in the future to do similar pieces,” Zeringue said. “I was just the guinea pig.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Lauren Duhon

The sun reflects colorful designs on the ground Tuesday, April 29, 2014 on the levee.