My uncle had these!

An exclaimation from a collegue who was helping me with photography and image selection: “Is that a Fluxus object?” he asked. “My uncle had these glasses! We used to go in the basement to sneak a peak.” I chuckled.

woman in silver dress and pale blue gloves on outside of glass

Woman on outside of Eyeglass

Eyeglass backside; Nude woman in high heels and gloves

Looking through the keyhole

We were looking at the object known as the Eyeglass. It is a beverage glass with a woman dressed to the nines painted (?) on the, for lack of a better word, front of the glass. There is a cream band around the middle of the glass, leaving a lip at the top and the base the natrual clear glass. The figure is set inside a green oval that makes a frame, seperating her from her cream surroundings. On the opposite, or 180 degree rotation from the woman is a transparent area in the shape of a keyhole. With the glass full, one would not see much through this keyhole, but as one drinks the beverage, a little more of another figure would appear on the inside of the glass. With the beverage gone, there stood a revealed backside of the same lady who is so well dressed on the front. However, she is no longer dressed in her going out clothes. Actually, she is not dressed at all, only framed with a pale blue outline completely unaware that you could see a little more of her than she might have intended.

It is a scene right out of a nightmare, at least for me *shivers*. However, I can understand how the glass may appeal to a group of boys.

This anacdote also illustrates an integral idea of Fluxus. The art movement is composed of artists creating and frabricating from found objects. These are objects anyone would have access to in the right circumstances. Objects that many would have had in their homes, or found on the street. There is a Fluxgame in our collection that contains a massive dustball. Not to make any judgements, but I bet you would find one of those behind your sofa. Fluxus is all around us. It is what we make it. And who knows, one day, something of yours could make it into an archive.