Sini Majuri forms a pair of melting sculptural eyeglasses
Sini Majuri presents It’s Getting Hot in Here, a sculptural eyewear piece exhibited at Etnia House of Arts during the Venice Art Biennale 2026. Constructed from hand-worked glass, ethically produced gold leaf, and original eyeglass components, the work examines contemporary perception through the material language of optical devices and mediated vision.
The sculpture takes the form of a pair of melting eyeglasses fabricated from flat glass. Despite its sculptural composition, the object retains the folding mechanics of functional eyewear, positioning itself between design object, optical instrument, and installation. The distorted form introduces instability into a device traditionally associated with precision and visual clarity.
The project considers the historical role of glass as a material linked to observation, scientific inquiry, and technologies of vision, including microscopes, telescopes, and lenses. Within the work, however, the eyeglasses appear softened and partially collapsed, suggesting a breakdown in the capacity of visual systems to fully process or interpret contemporary reality.
all images courtesy of Sini Majuri
‘It’s getting hot in here’ addresses mediated visual culture
Through this transformation, the piece addresses the conditions of image saturation and mediated experience. Screens, lenses, and digital interfaces increasingly structure how information is consumed, while visual abundance does not necessarily produce greater understanding. The melting geometry of the eyewear reflects this tension between visibility and comprehension.
Material contrast plays a central role in the installation. Fragile transparent glass is combined with genuine ethically produced gold leaf, a material historically associated with permanence, authority, and value. Together, the materials establish a dialogue between instability and endurance, transparency and distortion.
The glass components were cut and melted at Essis by Lasilinkki Studio in Kuopio, Finland. The ethically produced gold leaf was supplied by Kultaus Snellman Oy. The work by Finnish artist Sini Majuri is presented at Etnia House of Arts in Venice, where it operates as a sculptural study of perception, material transformation, and the visual conditions of contemporary culture.
hand-worked glass forms a pair of melting sculptural eyeglasses
transparent glass surfaces soften and collapse across the frame
