Interview With The Glass Eye Maker

June 4, 2007 9:38 PM

Compelling (if somewhat brief) videoblog featuring an artist describing his job, crafting & painting glass eyes for folks in need of prosthetics.
posted by jonson (15 comments total)

I have never seen this video; this is cool.

I was going to put together a separate post on glass eyes - I have a lovely collection of over 120 of them, including blanks, cases, and ocularist ephemera, dating from the late 1800's to the 1960's.

I'll go ahead and post this here instead:

Marc Steinmetz photo essay on the making of glass eyes.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:06 PM on June 4, 2007

Here's a related article on a former CIA agent who specializes in making lifelike silicone prosthetics for people with birth defects or missing features.
posted by dhruva at 10:12 PM on June 4, 2007

Oh, and previously.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:15 PM on June 4, 2007

Interesting. I'm reminded of a little shop on MacDougal Street, NYC. On the block just north of Bleecker, there was a little shop with what seemed like hundreds of glass eyes, many of them set into jewelry. I think the shop is long gone, though.

And something the ocularist said ("Almost anything you can put into motion has brought me a patient") reminded me of the age-old, sage advice: those words of wisdom we all heard as youngsters: "CAREFUL, YOU'LL PUT YOUR EYE OUT!"
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:51 PM on June 4, 2007

Seeing the grinder working...it doesn't seem like they're made of glass. Looks like plastic.
posted by rmmcclay at 11:27 PM on June 4, 2007

The video about the service dog was great too. I'm a sucker for dog stories.
posted by Eekacat at 12:27 AM on June 5, 2007

Eyes are generally made from acrylic now, and have been for at least 30 years. I have a lovely collection also, louche moustachio, but they're all my own! (Retinoblastoma, when I was a baby, if you felt like asking). I like to put the littlest ones in people's drinks or under lettuce leaves on their plate, just for fun.

You can see my current right eye in the ocular prosthetic Wikipedia article. Great post -thanks!
posted by goo at 1:57 AM on June 5, 2007 [4 favorites]

I like to put the littlest ones in people's drinks or under lettuce leaves on their plate, just for fun.

Hey, that does sound like fun!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:34 AM on June 5, 2007

More at Tinselman...
posted by growabrain at 3:34 AM on June 5, 2007

Yes. Questions. Morphology, longevity, incept dates.
posted by carsonb at 5:21 AM on June 5, 2007

Putting fake eyeballs in people's food is always high humor. I remember my mother bringing me brownies and a glass of milk ... milk with a plastic, somewhat realistic eyeball floating in it. And people wonder why I'm morbid.
posted by adipocere at 7:51 AM on June 5, 2007

I briefly emailed back and forth with the grandson of a Chicago ocularist. He told me a favorite family prank involved giving someone a candy box that was really full of eyes.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:03 PM on June 5, 2007

If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams... glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost... in time, like tears... in rain. Time... to die.
posted by blasdelf at 3:41 PM on June 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

Interesting little video. Some of the most interesting forms of art are the kind you never thought about as being art — even if seeing the inside of an empty eye socket is sort of ... yikes.
posted by tepidmonkey at 9:33 PM on June 5, 2007

That was a bit creepy, but at the same time, really fucking cool. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by Phire at 9:43 PM on June 5, 2007