Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2019.

Images(3)

Passage 7

Artist Mark Peiser (American, born 1938)

Date2015

MediumHot cast phase separated glass

Dimensions17 3/4 × 31 3/4 × 7 13/16 in. (45.1 × 80.6 × 19.8 cm)

ClassificationsGlass

Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds provided by Pat and Doug Perry, Jim Hixon, Penny and Peter Meredith, Carolyn and Dick Barry, Joan Brock, Jeffrey and Scherry Johnson, Anne Corso and Timothy Griffith, Linda Kaufman in honor of Lisa S. and Dudley B. Anderson, Amy and Kirk Levy, Harry T. Lester, and Virginia and John Hitch

Object number2018.40

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a large and heavy, solid-cast sculpture made of uniquely formulated “opal” glass. The work is in the shape of an asymmetrical arch that recalls a rainbow, with the thickness of the work gradually reduced as the form successively steps inwards to the central opening. The glass has a bluish hue under interior fluorescent lights, but the colors perceived by the eye change to ambers, pinks, and purples depending upon the light source (type, intensity, direction of illumination). The hues of the glass are most saturated at the thick edges, and the perceived color becomes paler and paler as the eye moves inward to the opening.
Label TextMark Peiser American, b. 1938 Passage 7, 2015 Hot cast phase separated glass In his quest to capture the transparency and luminosity of the sky, Mark Peiser formulated a unique "opal" glass that is polychroic ("many colored") due to microscopic particles that formed within the glass during the cooling process. These particles reflect and scatter light, just like the light-scattering phenomena of sunsets and rainbows. With the creation of his opal glasses, Peiser discovered "it was possible to paint a spectrum of colors from a single glass" depending on its thickness and how light interacts with it. Passage 7 may appear mostly blue, but the glass can melt into rosy amber and purple hues as the daylight changes. As you move around the artwork, how do the colors that you see change? Museum purchase with funds provided by Pat and Doug Perry, Jim Hixon, Penny and Peter Meredith, Carolyn and Dick Barry, Joan Brock, Jeffrey and Scherry Johnson, Anne Corso and Timothy Griffith, Linda Kaufman in honor of Lisa S. and Dudley B. Anderson, Amy and Kirk Levy, Harry T. Lester, and Virginia and John Hitch 2018.40