Field Trip - Education, Artist references

 

The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY  is a museum devoted to glass art, history and science. In addition to displays there are live educational demos on melting, forming and fusing glass.

Glass is transformative. It can be melted, shaped, reshaped, poured and flattened. It has been created and used throughout history for utilitarian, scientific, and artistic purposes. 

Below are some pieces I photographed and found especially memorable. The text included here came directly from the museum.

Nocturne 5
Karen LaMonte (American, born 1967)
Made in the Czech Republic
Mold-melted glass, grit-blasted, acid-polished

 

This statue is part of a series of sculptures in dark glass representing Karen LaMonte's contemplation of the idea of night. You can still see the impression of a body, once there but now gone, in the empty dress.

 

 

Endeavor
Lino Tagliapietra (Italian, b. 1934)
Made in the United States, Seattle, Washington and Italy, Murano 2004
Blown, hot-worked glass, cut, battut cut; steel cable

 

A flock of birds, a school of fish, a fleet of boats--the abstracted shapes of this sculpture lead us to find meaning and beauty in form, pattern, and repetition. Here Lino Tagliapietra was inspired by the fleet of ornately decorated gondolas that gather in the Venetian lagoon for the Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Ascension of the Virgin).

 

 

13 Crows (cropped photo)
Michael Rogers (American, b. 1955)
Made in Japan, Seto, Aichi, 2002
Cast glass, lampback; Japanese newspaper, glue, steel wire

While living in Japan, Michael Rogers observed the bodies of crows hanging in the fields intended to scare off other crows and protect crops. The crow has been both a symbol of foreboding and of craftiness throughout history. The 13 birds in this sculpture are covered inwords from Japanese newspapers, which may convey good news or bad.

 

 

Zoomorphic Stone
Stanislav Lienský (1921-2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová (b. 1924)
Czechoslovadia, Železný Brod, designed 1962 and made in 1965
Mold-melted glass, cut; steel frame

This is one of a series of twelve sculptural panels designed for the International Railway Union (UIC) Hall in Paris.

 

 

St. Anastasius
Gerhard Ribka (German, b. 1955)
United Kingdom, Lincoln, 1992
Cut, enameled, stained, and lustered, assembled; lead came

The depiction of the martyrdom of a saint is given a contemporary treatment in this panel. Saint Anastasius was a Zoroastrian Persian soldier who converted to Christianity and became a monk. While traveling in Turkey, he was captured by the Persians. Refusing to renounce Christianity, Anastasius was strangled in 628. HIs body was thrown to the dogs, but they left it untouched.

 

From the historical section:

 

Chinese-Style Cameo Vase (from the historical section of the museum)
Possibly Thomas Webb and Sons, Amblecote, England, about 1890