3prismas- Santiago Estellano

2026

3 prisms

creation project

Introduction

Geometry of Interdependence

The 3PRIMAS Installation is an investigation into volume, balance, and the challenge to the topological nature of geometry. It is part of the Impossible series, which began in 2023, and references impossible geometries, where the exploration focuses on representing infinite continuity, the challenge of existence, and the representation of unreal figures in a four-dimensional space. The concept in this installation is based on the physical interdependence of bodies in space, situated between Euclidean geometry and the paradox of the visual. The logic of the impossible object.

TP202519, Analog collage, 16.5 x 22 cm, 2025 From the series Landscape Transformation

Geometric figure of the Three Interlocking Bricks

Description

The aesthetics of the concrete

3PRISMAS is born from the transformation of drawing into matter, from the creation in space of the figure of the “Three Interlocking Bricks,” a geometric figure drawn on a plane. It is a three-dimensional derivation of the principles of the Penrose Triangle, conceived by the artist Oscar Reutersvärd (1915-2002) in 1934 and analyzed by the mathematical physicist Roger Penrose (1931) in the 1950s.

Three Interlocking Bricks deceives the eye through perspective, an apparent representation. However, in 3PRISMAS, the impossibility changes in nature. It is not an optical trick, but an interlocking system; the 3PRISMAS are interlocked. The autonomy of the prisms is precisely what is impossible: one of the prisms cannot be removed without fracturing at least one of the other two.

Structure and Balance. The work is composed of three rectangular prisms measuring 250 x 150 x 75 cm. Each prism is constructed using wooden edges (rectangular braces), lacking faces to allow observation of the intersecting planes and the movement of one prism through the other. The spatial arrangement is based on the central prism, which rests vertically on the ground, establishing the gravitational axis. This is the foundation of the balance. The other two prisms are suspended by four guides (steel cables), each anchored to the central prism. This balance is not only aesthetic but also mechanical. The tension between the two prisms in equilibrium is what generates a state of repose and calm. If this balance is broken, the system collapses. 3PRISMAS seeks to create the perception of volumes that appear to float, defying conventional coordinates. The impossible object exists in equilibrium between the tangible and the geometrically impossible.

In this production process of the Impossible series, a new concept emerges with the work 3PRISAMS: interdependence and Brunn's Link. There is an interrelationship between the elements such that removing any one of its components frees the rest. In 3PRISMAS, there is also a variant of set theory and equilibrium. This object, which challenges the rules of convention, leads to the existence of a perfect, invisible cube at the center of the intersections of the 3PRISMAS, impossible to visualize due to the absence of faces in the 3PRISMAS.

3PRISMAS avoids the decorative and presents itself as a raw, concrete geometric fact. It speaks of interdependence, of the balance achieved through a cycle of tensions, and as a form of resistance. It does not seek to be a beautiful object, but rather a true object governed by its own mathematical and physical laws. It is, if you will, a romantic demonstration that geometry is the most direct language for expressing the complexity of links.