As a visiting artist to Corning GlassLab I was privileged to experiment and play with this amazing material right on the stage.
From the Corning GlassLab website: GlassLab offers designers unprecedented access to molten glass. In public design performances or private sessions, designers and glassmakers collaborate, rapidly prototyping concepts and using the immediacy of hot glass as a catalyst for innovation. Visit GlassLab site
My project with them — MEMORY VASE.
When I was invited to submit a design proposal to be produced in front of the visitors at public glass-blowing event, I thought about visual effects of the fire on stage. Traditionally mold for glass-blowing is made of metal or sometimes plaster and wood. Wood is used in glassblowing but needs to be kept wet. I wanted to collect forgotten and unwanted wooden objects souvenirs from thrift stores and friend’s garages and give them one last glamorous life on stage. Final object is a tool that had to come a part quickly in order to remove glass vessel before it burns the wood completely or cools down too much.
We were able to make 4 different objects before wooden pieces got completely destroyed. Several objects are now in permanent collection at Corning Museum of Glass.