Spencer Finch x Spencer Finch

“Manhattan Light Study (morning becomes afternoon, afternoon becomes morning) offers viewers two colored panes through which to view the outside world. Moving between the panes is a process of changing one’s perspective of 10th Avenue. Ostensibly the viewer sees the same view, but the way the color tints that view changes it. The title of the work also shapes the way we interact with the scene outside. Each color shifts to a different time: morning becomes afternoon, and afternoon becomes morning. As the eye moves from pane to pane and the title becomes true, color, time, and the resulting perspective shifts. 

Hannibal Crossing the Alps (2 Views) also uses additional information to shape perspective. Like Manhattan Light Study, Hannibal Crossing the Alps consists of two squares with identical shapes, colors, and outlines. Again, the title of the work invites the viewer to reexamine the nature of the piece itself. Two views are claimed to exist here, and so viewers are prompted to look at the piece to find the minute differences that would constitute enough of a difference to see two views. In both pieces, descriptive titles act as a guide to interacting with the work, prompting the viewer to look closely and examine their own perceptions.”

Ryan Schroeder, Teen Educator 2022-2023