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Next Steps......

In Sem3, I am intending to return to explore the ‘Waves & Water’ theme in different direction - investigating large scale slumping and fusing, rather than the casting of forms explored earlier in Sem2. 

And using the diving bird form to push out flat fenestration in different ways

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Summative Assessment - Reflective Statement

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Feathers

Having created the layered suspension piece, I was reasonably happy with the result - although the glued wiring is a little crude - but I think that the effect would be enhanced considerably by the piece being larger in scale, made up of a number of ‘tiers’ perhaps or a twisted frame referencing murmurations

I also explored a different presentation for a set of feathers with a similar yellow tinge incorporated into their colours, complementing the large fused wing forms set onto timber

I enjoy the juxtaposition of the fragile feather forms with the roughness of the timber

Further, I explored hanging a small selection of feathers above the display, as if the pieces were falling from the sky

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Making - exploring suspension

Investigating ways to securely suspend feathers. Looking at a format of pieces ‘woven’ together in three-dimensional layers, allowing the passage of light to filter through the coloured glass and filigree holes.

The pieces suspended together also suggest shards of broken glass - as if the feathers from a Tiffany window have been shattered and reformed

Considering an abstracted composition of woven ‘feather’ forms - I think of the traditional Maori feather dress

How many feathers in each of the three mould sizes will I need to create a panel of sufficient size to demonstrate the idea?

I investigate various ways to suspend; with fishing nylon, guitar string nylon, metallic string, thin modelling wire. The nylon strings are discrete, but awkward to tie onto the pieces. The metallic string is too dominant. The modelling wire works well, is secure and provides a slight stability that helps considerably, as the light fragile pieces move easily in a draught. But wire ties are too noticible and tricky to get a neat finish on each different piece

Consider a different method of mounting, glueing pieces onto thin float glass panels as secure backing, and suspending the panels

But this does not allow for the three-dimensional layering I had hoped for. A quick trial using UV glue to connect a wire to a broken glass piece, and it works well - still not ideal, a little cruder than I had hoped, but given pieces will be suspended at height, much more discrete.

Suspending a number of pieces from perspex rods as a trial of the ‘cloak’ format. 

The pieces layer together, but too tightly, I think - they need to be set slightly further apart to enable each piece to be recognised, but close enough to form a cohesion.

I go back to some of the options for suspension I had considered earlier - suspending in a grid format from a metal frame? Looking back at pinterest notes on inspiration...

Isa Barbier

Carrie Fertig

Seon Ghi Bahk

I find I move back towards a more circular or oval setting - back towards  murmurations on the shore below the house

Sketching and model making 

Final hang in circular format with silver threads

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Making - Feathers - glass stringers

Pulled out a host of thin strings of glass in the hot shop, using Kugler colours and Glasma transparent glass. Palette of dark blues, greys, greens with soft white highlights. 

Made multiple plaster moulds - shallow relief with detail carved in when dry - with three sizes of feather shape, using cut modelling foam as formers.

Stringers broken to size and laid carefully into open moulds.

First trial feather was successful but quite dense -it had a thick layer of Glasma stringers laid on top of colour. 

Tried with less Glasma to test how little needed to create a feather form.

Found that the Kugler colours, particularly the darker blues and greys, melt together into an almost a filigree form. An unexpected, but intriguing result. Carried on experimenting with different colour combinations and various amounts of clear Glasma as a binder.

Looking at the pieces layered together, there are echoes of the tones of Eardley’s coastal palette, and the whisps of sea spray

Make a small number of larger over-sized feathers -the filigree effect creates sharp shadows

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Making - Wings - blowing, cutting and fusing

Considering further ways of making wing forms by fusing individual elements representing feathers 

Trial fuses with different types of glass to investigate how each responded to various kiln programmes, based on Spectrum 96 guidance on fusing programmes.

Initial trials on shards of Spectrum 96 and shards of broken blown piece were too fused and melted together. Adjusting the programme for less dwelling at top temperature worked well for cut slivers of another blown piece

Blew a new piece - a long cylindrical shape - and cut on diamond saw. A couple of breakages. But the pieces didn’t fuse together cohesively enough this time, and sections broke. However, was pleased with the grey tones of the inner opaque grey, with clear gather over, and light roll in Opal Schwarz Kugler fritt.

Considered cutting technique further, and adjusted.

Another long cylindrical shape - again using a light grey base colour, with a clear gather rolled in silvered black fritt - cut neatly in even pieces without breakages this time, and layered carefully in kiln.

A much better result.

And pieces complemented by rough timber for presentation.

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Making - Casting Feathers & Wings

Clay feather sculpted, and made into a shallow plaster relief mould

Glass cast into mould using the casting programme that has been successful so far on the enclosed moulds

But the glass does not flow well in the shallow mould. The feathers created from the enclosed moulds with glass flowing under gravity from crucibles worked better as a form, particularly when tidied up with a little cold working.

But still feel too ‘chunky’ for the layering investigations. On to wing forms.....

Testing wing forms, with two elements for each wing and a central body. Multiples to be cast, then can be suspended in a variety of LAYERED formats to indicate a sea bird folding as it dives. 

LIGHT - Inspiration - Etienne Jules-Marey - early photographer of movement of flight

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Consideration of various pieces and forms of connection.

Carved forms in modelling foam in Joinery workshop, and created multiple plaster moulds with carved markings

Multiple glass pieces cast. A little crude, and will required significant cold-working. 

The main problem is the creation of discrete holes in each piece to allow connection and suspension. Tried drilling and using dremmel tool - latter would be feasible, but would take a long time. Also, the chunky form of the cast in relief mould has same issue as cast feathers - feels too weighty. Could attempt to cast in thin enclosed moulds with minimal glass. Or could cast each wing in one piece then slump - as this crystal installation appears to have done

But time is moving on - decide to put cast feathers and wing forms to one side for the moment, and to push on with the blown and fused projects....

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Focused Projects & Programme

The 2nd half of the semester will cover 3 more focused and detailed projects - cast pieces, blown/cut/fused pieces, and pieces created from fused coloured stringers of glass pulled in the hotshop.

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Focus

Having spent the first half of the semester exploring a wide range of making techniques under the SEA BIRDS - WAVES, WATER, FEATHERS & FLIGHT theme, the work of the second half of the semester will focus in on a small number of projects, chosen from the earlier options appraisals, focusing on the Feathers & Flight elements.

In order to be manageable in form and scale, whilst I am still exploring how to handle the material, I will work in multiples of small elements that can be combined in LAYERS to create larger architectural installation pieces, or remain as single artworks. The layering of forms will also allow me to explore the flow of natural LIGHT through the works, examining the ability of coloured and clear glass to filter and refract light, altering the effect of the interior space into which the artwork is placed.

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Research - architectural glass history

While glass as a decorative utility material has probably been in use since Mesopotamian times, the earliest know use of coloured and painted glass as an architectural material, set into windows, dates from the Roman period. 

The oldest example still in situ is from the late 11th Century Romanesque Cathedral of Ausberg. In this period, the German’s advanced technical glassmaking, developing the Crown glass process - blowing out spheres to form cylinders, cut into sheets whilst still hot. 

Advances in architectural design, particularly the Gothic flying buttress, supporting the structure to allow thinner walls and a larger expanse of windows - such as the early 13th Century Cathedral at Chartres - allowed stained glass to flourish in the Medieval period. The large decorative panels created at this time served the dual purpose of filtering natural light through colour, creating powerful interior effects, whilst also telling the key Biblical stories, the majority of those in congregations being illiterate.

The mid-13th Century Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is one of the most an exquisite spaces created in this period.

From the Renaissance period, use of stained glass went into decline. It was not rediscovered as an architectural medium until the Arts and Crafts period in the 19th Century, when Artist Craftsmen such as William Morris and the American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright began to design in glass - below.

In the early 20th Century, Louis Comfort Tiffany made a significant artistic impact with his stained glass. His studio developed a technique to blend colours in molten glass, producing opalescent, milky effects. 

This detail of a window by Frederik Wilson for Tiffany illustrates the atmospheric effect that could be created with this glass.

Architects within the Modernist Movement of the early 20th Century found increasing uses for transparent and coloured glass within their designs. By the 1950′s the great French Artist Henri Matisse was using glass in powerful abstract compositions in the Dominican Chapel at Vence.

Glass as a decorative device within buildings has a long and distinguished history. 

But whilst glass is a ubiquitous material in contemporary architectural design, often a primary material, it is seldom used, it appears, to great decorative effect. Material development has created glazing systems that can filter light, heat and sound, can insulate and can provide fire resistance, but there are few examples of large scale artistic interventions in decorative glass within contemporary architecture. 

The 2007 work ‘One Way Colour Tunnel’ by one of the limited number of Artist’s working on an architectural scale, Olafur Eliasson, illustrates the dramatic effect glass - in this case dichroic glass - can have. It is this bridge between artistic and architectural practice that I am exploring in my work.

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Research - Early Ideas

Prior to settling on the Seabird - Waves, Water, Feathers & Flight theme, I considered a broad variety of ideas - as noted in the reflective statement below. I’m not intending to pursue these ideas within the ECA Glass MA, having chosen to focus on the Seabirds theme, but the initial research is worth recording so that I can consider coming back to it at a later date in my own practice. Here is a brief summary of early research that was set aside:

Relief forms in glass inspired by historic architectural building details and heritage patterns

Researching relief forms - Brunelleschi, Grinling Gibbons, Adam plasterwork, Frank Lloyd Wright’s concrete forms.

Joanna Manousis following a similar theme - her pieces individually cast to resemble jewels. Her work is intended as gallery pieces - I’m considering a larger scale, architectural installations set within a building.

William Morris historic prints

Looking at scaling this up, so that an image is spread over a number of tiles -  trying it out with a historic Morris print. What would this look like as a series of glass ‘relief’ tiles, set in a light frame, as a form of fenestration or screen - to be seen from both sides in natural light?

Considering the options to model, mould and cast tiles for this type of installation, and how to introduce colour and coldworked detail. With this ‘busy’ design, the depth of relief wouldn’t be great, so could CNC mill each master tile in sikaboard.

Approx.470 x 620mm. The framing design would need to be considered carefully to complement the piece.

Interesting exercise, but I’m going to ‘park’ the foliage relief for now.

Glass screening inspired by Arabic Mashrabiya

Considering the use of tech/CAD techniques and making methods to form ‘lattice’-type glass, melting glass into open moulds, as concrete below.

Manipulation of fenestration/glazing, inspired by the political violence of ‘defenestration’

the act of throwing political opponents out of windows, or of expulsion from a political party.

Shattering.....falling.........

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Formative Assessment - Reflective Statement

Progress to date - flow charts at Sun 24 Feb 2019

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Making - Flight - Hot glass

Blowing pieces with the intention of creating a series of oval, abstract, wing forms that will ‘nest’ together, suspended.

But glass too thick, and when try to manipulate the basic shallow bowl form into an oval on the punty, piece distorts on punty rather than pulling out. Should have created the principal form before puntying and opening out.

Put the piece in the annealer anyway, and will record when it’s out.

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Making - Waves & Water

Clay sculpted form in 150x200 format for casting

Gelflex -ve

Wax +ve, then steamed out in plaster mould ready for casting glass

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Research - Wings

Considering nesting glass feathers together in a wing formation

and the form feather models will need to take. 

Da Vinci & Burne Jones

Considering the creation of a wing skeleton in metal - bronze? - as the support framework. Two large wings side by side as screening.

What will natural light do as it passes through layers of individual pieces, each a slightly, different colour tone? Or will some feather elements be opaque?

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Making - Colour in the Hotshop

Using colour with hot glass

Introduction to using colour with hot glass. Beginning with frits and powders, learning to apply to hot glass by rolling in powder, or by trailing strands of colour around a blown piece. Marianne is using green, I’ve gone for a light lavender shade. Powders and frits on the shelves in the hotshop

Ingrid demonstrating picking up colour, and twisting strands around hot glass bubble.

Unsuccessful attempts at ‘thumbing’ air into colour and gathering over colour....

But eventually starting to make more progress.

Create a bowl with blue glass base, green frit over - design sandblasted through green layer to blue whilst still an ‘egg’, then picked up, blown out and formed. Quite pleased with this piece, curving ‘waves’ of blue showing through, although base not flat. Even form, not too chunky, good size.

Cold working, and playing with combinations of feather colours.

Couple of failures - base too thin on blue piece and cracked when knocked off, and colours incompatible on green egg piece

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Making - Waves & Water

Creation of organic, hand-made tiles reflecting ‘fluidity’, to contrast with the digital tiles

‘Choppy’ form created with pieces of found timber set out to resemble wave form - initially, tried quick creation of cast with alginate. But insufficient coverage and dried too unevenly.

Trying again with Gelflex. First cast from piece of apple tree chunk is poor - poured at too high a temperature, so bubbly, and the relief form itself is not particularly interesting. Try again with the other side, which is more successful and achieves more of a sinuous form, with a knot rising up out of the ‘waves’.

Plaster mould made.

Glass cast successful. Cold working base to polish up so can look through into relief. Considering how panels of relief can be mounted together to form screening.

Heavy - consider casting a core into a piece to reduce glass volume. Perhaps a bird in flight form?