"The Secret Life of Glass." Spencer Finch’s kilnformed glass artwork for The Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY), 14.5’ x 25.75’. Glass fabrication, frame design, and engineering by Bullseye Studio. Artwork courtesy of James Cohan Gallery.

Spencer Finch’s Artwork for The Corning Museum of Glass

July 19, 2022

The Secret Life of Glass, Bullseye Studio’s fabrication for renowned contemporary artist Spencer Finch (James Cohan Gallery), has become a permanent installation at The Corning Museum of Glass. Inspired by Finch’s examination of how window glass at the site registered temperature differences on one winter’s day, the artwork now coats its environment and everything in it with a lush wash of expressive color.

[Top left] Artificial light (and a white backing screen). [Top right] Natural light (with natural background).
[Bottom] Spencer Finch visits Bullseye Studio to work with the team and select the color palette.

Bullseye Studio worked closely with Finch to realize the artwork’s distinctive, Matisse-inspired palette. Each of its eight colors represents a different data set from Finch’s root temperature measurements. Together, at scale, they form an immersive force—an installation that vivifies typically invisible interactions between glass, its environment, and human perception. The artwork helps reveal, in other words, the secret life of glass.

[Top] The site before and after installation of The Secret Life of Glass. [Bottom] Installed.

With approximately five-hundred-thousand visitors passing through the Museum each year, people from all over the world will now have the chance to experience what led Karol Wight, President and Executive Director of The Corning Museum of Glass, to say: “The Secret Life of Glass has become one of my favorite pieces in our collection. Encountering it in the late afternoon can be a soul-lifting experience—exactly what a beautiful work of art can be in our lives.”