Cylinders and funnels 1980

This non-functional set of glass works was devised in 1980, following Mount’s return from working under American glassblower, Richard Marquis. It draws attention to two distinctive shapes that the artist has finished in a simple and symmetrical pop of neon yellow.

Mount recalls the handiwork once necessary to create shapes like these as equipment in labs and kitchens, and laments that this artform has been lost today. The artist draws a conceptual link between funnels and glass as primarily functional mediums; however, he introduces a point of tension in that his glass forms are non-functional. In Cylinders and funnels, the domestic becomes sculptural.

By placing funnels in paired cylinders, Mount develops an interest in containment and insertion that he later explores across his practice.