Author: geexadmin

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Collaboration

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Collaboration
March 3, 2022 7pm EST
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat. 
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant. 
Italic headings indicate off-topic conversation threads.

What is the role of collaboration in your practice?
  • To put together large projects
  • To share skill sets
  • To make work that is beyond the scope of one artist’s ability to make
  • Collaboration through teaching
  • To make things I don’t feel comfortable making myself as a new artist
  • Access to complementary skill sets 
  • To gain access to a new market
  • In teaching, collaborate on one big piece
  • Conscious, consensual agreement with someone else who has a different background/skill set/cultural context, etc. and it’s something we agree to bring to the table intentionally
  • Collaboration does not have a predetermined result
  • Collaboration is about creating something that could never be done by one person
  • Collaboration generates new knowledge
  • Collaboration makes me feel very small, on the scale of the universe, and I like that
  • I usually collaborate with scientists, making art science work.
  • Started flameworking to work solo, as a compliment to working collaboratively in the hot shop or teaching
  • Collaboration can be intimidating and style might not mesh well
  • Looking for different perspectives on how to enter into a collaboration
  • Interested in the networking technique within the realm of flameworking and what it allows for metaphors of networking and community building to do
  • Collaborative flameworking project – invite non-flameworkers to add to a networked form using map gas torches to build structures that are not predetermined
  • To access the space glassmaking creates where people can talk about differences
  • Use flameworking for collaboration because it is more accessible than glassblowing.
  • Collaborative community building through beadmaking
  • Collaboration is a huge part of the glass pipe industry
  • What I get from collaboration is learning – flameworking can be a solitary activity, when I work with others my work and skills progress with insight from other people. 
  • Social media and market cross pollination resulting from collaboration, can help to build an audience.
  • Find someone in a different studio to collaborate with and make two pieces, one for each of you
  • Working with artists who cannot make pieces they want and hire a glassmaker to do it for them
  • Interesting to jump into someone else’s head, taking yourself out of your comfort zone.
  • Collaboration between different types of glassmaking, e.g combining furnace- and lathe-working
  • Collaborating between science and art 
  • Maybe collaboration can lead to bringing down walls between glassmaking disciplines. 
  • R&D as a collaborative communal contribution to the field
  • Collaborating for efficiency in one’s practice, and/or hiring subcontractors for fabrication.
  • Flameworking is solitary art form for me and collaboration is an opportunity to connect with people
  • Collaboration through performance
  • Relying on other bodies to be part of a vision, give someone a role and ask them to help me create a vision
  • Using collaboration to explore relationships in glassmaking
  • Collab with a chamber music group and flameworking (musical composition based on the act of flameworking and making glass musical instruments)
  • Having the opportunity to work with people I love 
  • Collaboration makes me work outside my comfort zone and try things that maybe I wouldn’t have otherwise felt were within my area of experience in life.
  • Scientific glassblowing in the aerospace industry, collaboration that has to do with engineering, bringing skills together to make the product work. (ex. bring in a welding specialist)
  • Learning opportunities to learn from people with different skills. 
  • We all bring something to the table!
  • Consider how we are going to edit or veto our designs so that we each have a stake in the project that feels fair before starting the collaboration. 
  • CAD: good place for collaborative sketching and for communicating about design
  • Collaborating through a mentoring group put together to set goals. 
  • Collaborate with others on materials or supplies. And the end results are shared. Ex: making pattern bars
  • Being in a group studio or a university can lend itself to collaborations
  • As an educator, collaboration is fruitful when teaching with another artist who is totally different and we have to figure out how to work together outside my discipline. Looking outside the glass world to collaborate. 
  • Collab can bring me out of my comfort zone
  • Collaboration to be playful and try something new to access a mindset that is helpful in manifesting the next moves in life and to access happiness. 
  • Group projects in teaching to encourage collaboration and working together to develop skills and make something bigger conceptually.
  • Rented studio time with a group of people and just had fun. 
  • Make an instrument and then everyone plays together in an orchestra. 
  • You can make career long friends through collaboration. 
  • Collaboration in the form of a response video.
  • Releasing something open source with the hopes of others iterating on the design as a form of collaboration
  • Duets on TikTok (side by side videos)
  • Technology can be part of collaboration, especially in the cyberspace sphere. 
  • Making a composition inspired by the process of flameworking
  • Sometimes I feel like it’s equal, and other times there’s a hierarchy.
  • “Giving over control over your own work is scary”
  • “Collaboration helps me feel appropriately small” 
  • “Because I have a background in STEM, there’s a perspective that I have about collaboration that is one of R&D, where knowledge is shared and built upon to further the field. A lot of my practice is research on materials and techniques that others can then use for their own practice. It’s not a kind of collaboration where it’s between people, but it’s more of a communal contribution to the field.”
  • “Collaboration as a learning opportunity, exposure to new techniques”
  • “Collaboration as exposure to a new audience”
  • “So collaboration can incorporate a lot of risk, not just with letting go of control, but also choosing to use time to “play” instead of “work” (on the clock) … but I love playing. Play time should be incorporated into the budget”
↳ Exploring the role of collaboration in fabrication, subcontracting and consulting
  • “Do we and is it useful to differentiate between collaboration as knowledge building and collaboration as subcontracting (jobbing, outsourcing, fabrication support, etc. whatever the preferred terminology)?”
  • When I work as a fabricator for other artists, I do not consider that collaboration.
  • In collaboration, I share authorship with the other entities in the group. 
  • In fabrication I am paid to execute someone else’s vision, and I am performing a job. 
  • I have to negotiate the specifics every time BEFORE I enter into a collaboration with another artist or fabrication client: division of labor, authorship, and intellectual property, in addition to payment. 
  • In fabrication, I am paid when the glassblowing is complete, regardless of whether the work sells or not. Work is passed on to the client to do what they want with it. 
  • I get paid up front as a fabricator but not (yet) as an artist. 
  • In fabrication I ask for a sketch to make sure I understand what’s in their head. 
  • When you start getting into big projects it’s important to communicate. 
  • Consulting in relation to collaboration/fabrication
  • Consulting gives me access to high paid jobs, and allows access to Silicon valley. 
  • Consulting with professionals gives me experience for my resume so I can make more money. 
  • Make different resumes for different opportunities
  • For consulting you need to know yourself, your capabilities and what you’ll charge for it, and what the other person is looking for out of the consultation. 
  • Sometimes clients don’t necessarily know the limits of the material and production limitations to ask the right questions in a consultation. 
  • It was humbling finding out about what my shortcomings were while doing commission work. 
  • Free half hour for consulting, charge a rate for additional time.
  • Two different resumes needed – one for Consulting and for Art Activities
  • Show your artwork off a little more, and maybe the engineers will respect it more once they see what you can do. 
  • I hide my fabrication work with a hidden link on my art website
  • Outside work $70 to $110/hr, includes private lessons, $40 to $64/hr in house fabrication.
  • Most preliminary consultations are complimentary — charge hourly to do the work
  • Client asked me to sign an NDA before telling me anything about the project
  • Being conscious of paying people for their time
  • “I was wondering that too. It can also highlight disparities, when someone holds more knowledge and power, and uses the “exchange of knowledge” as payment that might not suffice for someone’s years of experience or skill level etc. Without focusing too much on the negatives, I have heard of a lot of “collaborative” experiences leaving one party disappointed. My other note on this is getting to a point where you are personally financially stable enough to hire people, while growing yourself”
  • “I ask for CAD renderings”
  • In the hiring vs collaborating distinction, there is also consulting which can be something a little different from both.
↳ Examples of collaboration
How do you negotiate a collaboration? Is it freeform? Do you have a contract? Is it like a duet? Are you making a body of work?
  • I haven’t made an object in collaboration, for me it’s mostly performance, or music, it’s often freeform and I have the ownership. 
  • Connected on IG after following each other’s work and then collaborated IRL
  • I send my collaborator parts and they get worked into larger pieces, we split it 50/50. 
  • Negotiate the price split up front, be sure to advocate for yourself regarding what your time and skills are worth. 
  • In pipes, it is generally understood that it’s a 50/50 split. 
  • Find out how much your prep is worth and make sure you get that – you can price out your prep individually and maybe your collaborator will need to up their price to accommodate that, which is a good thing for you both. 
  • Is skill level a factor in collaboration?
  • Commission split according to who had more IG followers, value of social media audience is considered. Value of marketing is factored in. 
  • Using creative commons and open source licenses for negotiating collaboration. 
  • I use creative commons licensing to make open source tools designs for the resource exchange. 
  • “I think about how you brand yourself, and also if people know your situation.”
  • “As a personal example, I hired a filmmaker to film and edit a video for me. It was a collaborative process, and I give her credit when I share it/show the film. But I consider that I have overall creative control and ownership of the work. (As just one example)”
  • “Collabricator (TM)”
  • “A friend of mine traveled to, and collaborated with a new friend, to then be told they would only receive 30/70 when the piece sold due to their lack of skill. Just wondering how we can avoid these sorts of situations “
  • “Do the $ negotiation up front and over email so you have a paper trail.”
  • “Contracts protect both parties, if it’s a big project don’t be afraid to make a contract. It can be simple. “
  • “Beginners can be more subject to this kind of unfair treatment when things are not as upfront“
  • “Maybe not specific to just glass, but there are mechanisms like “Creative Commons” or “Open Source” licenses where one can release something that is implicitly intended for collaboration. This might be something tangential to what we’re talking about, but I feel like it could be an interesting model for modes of negotiating collaboration… especially when you’re dealing with a form of knowledge.”
  • “It should be 50/50 because a lot of it has to do with the “name”
How do collaborations start? If there’s someone you’re interested in collaborating with, how do you approach them?
  • Mostly I just hit up my friends because approaching strangers on the internet is scary. 
  • I try to get to know the person I want to collaborate with to get into the other person’s head in order to come up with something weird. 
  • I like to seek out artists doing something completely different from me and find common ground. 
  • What platforms do you use for collaboration? Have you ever met/not met someone you’ve collaborated with?
  • “Anyone feel free to contact me to collaborate… also looking for mentorship.”
  • “Someone to collaborate on making graphite molds!”
  • “I want to see more flameworkers collaborating with institutions.”

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Last updated: 3/28/22

how is this glass?: Post Glass Artists/Glass Guerrillas

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

A blog founded by GEEX Talks 2021-22 speaker Anjali Srinivasan, and Yuka Otani, exploring and establishing a new conceptual space in glass, between 2008–2011.

“yuka + anjali is a curatorial team interested in the latent connections between glass and alternate / new media. Since 2008, we have been working towards exhibition and publication of guerilla interventions in glass practice, and the consequent re-definitions.”

Screenshot of the pastel-orange, how is this glass? website, the article features an image of Anjali Srinivasan holding a mirrored glass orb in front of her face.

The following article from how is this glass? establishes the notion of a post-glass artist, how they make sense of their practice, and relate to the world.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Ben Orozco

Exhale with Vigor: Artist Talk with Karen Donnellan and Suzanne Peck

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted a virtual conversation with Karen Donnellan and Suzanne Peck, featured artists in “New Glass Now,” on view at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery from October 22, 2021, to March 6, 2022. This program looked at how the artists use humor and a slightly subversive approach to rewrite the language of glass art. Their poster series “Exhale with Vigor” rejects the outdated slang used in hot glass studios and replaces chauvinistic terms with technical, fun, and feminist phrases. By examining how language, gender, and sexuality play a role in the contemporary glass field, Donnellan and Peck are working to create a more inclusive and representative hot shop.

Mary Savig, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft at SAAM, joined the artists for this engaging conversation on the language of contemporary glass making.

Opening title for the Artist Talk titled Exhale With Vigor: Artist Talk with Karen Donnellan and Suzanne Peck. There are two portraits of each speaker standing in a hot shop in with their respective tools (pipes, ladles, etc.)

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Helen Lee

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: The Changing Landscape of Flameworking

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
The Changing Landscape of Flameworking
Dec 16, 2021 7pm EST
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat. 
Each bullet point represents a comment by a participant. 
Italic headings indicate off-topic conversation threads.

What are some of the areas of specialty that make up the landscape of contemporary flameworking? How do you identify in the field of flameworking? What’s your identity when you’re in the field, and when you’re looking out?
  • “Within the glass community, I identify as a flameworker with specialties in beads and sculpture/fabrication. In the greater arts community, I identify as an artist and represent glassworking in general.”
  • Overlapping identities of performance art, interactive artwork, wearables/jewelry, teacher, ambassador/advocate for flameworking.
  • I self-identify as a flameworker with other flameworkers, but hesitate in outward facing situations to avoid being pigeonholed.
  • I use the term “glassmaker” instead of “pipemaker.” Hesitate to identify as a pipe maker. In the general art world, “flameworker” or “pipemaker” language is not fully understood by the general public.
  • Never identified as a flameworker or beadmaker – “I work in glass” or glassworker. Did not feel comfortable identifying as a beadmaker because of hierarchy when first started. “Pipemaker” can be considered taboo.
  • Try not to identify myself, or even say “glass”. Categories can get in the way of things.
  • Self-identity as Glass Specialist in tech industry, title/specialty matters for negotiating salary. Downplay your specialty as an artist.
  • I identify as an Artist and Designer first, fluctuates depending on project, neon is a micro-niche that is a process driven aspect of flameworking
  • Self-labeled “Glass artist” on instagram, but identify as a flameworker. Can be an unfair stigma against flameworkers from other people in the glass community, who want to avoid “tiny glassblowing” implications. 
  • In the jewelry community, I self-identify as a beadmaker, because it links to the traditions of beadmaking, and honors those who came before.
  • I make a point to identify as a pipemaker. Struggle in the pipeworld to be perceived as female and be identified as a pipemaker at all.
  • There is a lot of exciting potential for flameworking in education, re: realities of energy use and climate change, flameworking lends itself beautifully to that. 
  • A bit of a disconnect in academia – still a bit of a stigma re: pipemaking, although that is breaking down.
  • Regarding not fitting in – in the scientific community, [I feel] too artistic and in the art community [I feel] too technical. But that does not matter to me.
  • There are deep specialties for some of us, lack of being categorized for some of us, for some, overlapping categories.
  • “I’m not a flameworker, I’m an artist who takes advantage of flameworking.” Helps the viewer keep an open mind for what the work needs to be. 
  • “I think I will be happy to be called as a flameworker and an educator who is exploring the boundary of the field. I often fuse 3D rendering & flameworking, screen printing & flameworking, etc. However I am in huge love with the technique, I would say I am a flameworker rather than a sculptor.”
  • “Representation matters!”
  • “As someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, who is completely removed from the glass culture, all of this info of this faction-ing is so interesting.”
↳ Identification through Materials/Technique
  • Specialization in fabrication is helpful for client confidence.
  • Soft glass is ancient, but borosilicate and quartz are new glasses. Listing material as “Borosilicate” instead of glass in artwork can be indicative of a contemporary material and process. Being specific about materials might be a good thing.
  • Listing borosilicate as a material helps give information about the process.
  • In the 70s it was all glassblowing. The term lampworking didn’t come in until the 70s/80s.
  • When you read old materials, you’ll see glassblowing — not lampworking or flameworking. 
  • Is it time to update some of the terminology we use?
  • Sometimes being really specific regarding identity markers can form cliques or ingroups and that may be something to avoid. Reluctant to pick specifics as identity markers because it can hinder inclusion.
  • Getting comfortable with flameworking has opened up opportunities in the hotshop. Flameworking is a tool, and does not need to be defined as one specific thing.
  • What are some of the earlier terms for this mode of working? Could that language be used today?
↳ The Taboo of Pipes
  • When did pipes become taboo? All of a sudden it was shunned. Pipes have always been part of the American lifestyle. I shouldn’t be a separate thing.
  • Maybe from DARE and the war on drugs in the 80s? Before that?
  • American Pipe history – in the 70s or maybe late 60s and when people first started selling pipes in record stores and head shops, the trade shows where this stuff was sold was closely connected to the porn industry. Wholesale events would be together, so pipes became associated with porn, so maybe that’s how “Pipes are bad” attitudes started.
  • American Glass Expo (pipe trade show) used to always be scheduled after the porn convention in Las Vegas. (in contemporary times)
  • In 1970, Sally’s teacher Lloyd was selling fumed pipes at craft shows. Police said he couldn’t sell hookahs but he continued selling pipes.
How can we define ourselves collectively in the field? How do we define contemporary flameworking today? How is it different from the past? What is and what is not contemporary lampworking?
  • One aspect of contemporary lampworking is that there is a lot of collaboration happening, maybe now more than ever. Portability, enabling traveling with equipment
  • Contemporary Flameworking could be an inclusive term used to describe anyone working with glass in this way, any of the subgroups, and including artists/designers who do not identify as flameworkers but use flameworking as a technique in their work.
  • Anything made with a torch should be considered flameworking, even in the hotshop.
  • Contemporary flameworking is more concept driven.
  • Flameworking vs. lampworking? Use them interchangeably? Flamer, torchworker.
  • I use the term Lampworking when talking about history because that was the term used.
  • Titles – just get rid of them all.
  • West coast people say flameworking, east coast people say lampworking.
  • Scale of heat- is that a defining criteria for “flameworking” vs. melting glass stringers with heat from a candle, for example?
  • “I think the contemporary flameworking is more concept-driven.”
  • “I think if you use a torch to manipulate glass in any part of creating a work, that work is tied to contemporary flameworking.”
  • “Flameworking” is a really new term. I tend to use “lampworking” for historical torchwork”
  • “I like lampworking bc it’s older, but got tired of “oh, so you make lamps?”
  • “I usually call it flameworking or torch work and use lampworking as a reference towards the historical roots or the process”
  • “Pipe is for transport/moving material or media… it’s historical”
↳ Color in Flameworking
  • Flameworked glass is a lot more colorful these days because of expansion in the borosilicate color palette. (In the 80s, with a limited palette available, artists mixed their own colors.)
  • “We had blue and uranium green, and everything else we mixed ourselves.” You can fume with red iron oxide. It’s amazing the color that is out there now. Learning curve with the new colors. Sue Ellen Fowler and Paul Trautman were pioneers in making borosilicate color.
  • Because of its immediacy, there is a playfulness to flameworking that is not experienced in other glassworking practices. (Re: mixing colors, trying different glasses, understanding and observing properties of materials in real time.)
  • Past volumes of New Glass Review & “academic glass” – often clear. (Not much color)
  • Data points of what glasswork is most likely to get into the New Glass Review (Zac Weinberg’s project) Flameworking, and art made with found glass was among the least likely to get in.
  • Depending on jurors — in a recent year of New Glass Review, there was lots of flameworking and pipes represented. Micah Evans was the juror.
Where do you think the field of flameworking is headed? Do you anticipate advancement in the field? (What constitutes “advancement”?)
  • Advancement could be increased visibility for flameworking. Showing the different aspects and variety of ways of working to break down stereotypes. 
  • More representation of flameworking at conferences & in the world and in the art world. 
  • More exploration of borosilicate as a plastic material by sculptors inside and outside the glass world. With borosilicate it’s possible to revise, rework, edit and repair. 
  • Exploring borosilicate in a mixed media context. 
  • Advancement could be defined as an expansion of technical and/or expressive applications for borosilicate glass. 
  • Scientific glassblowing is responsible for so many advancements, not just in flameworking but in science and technology and affects us all. (fiber optics, screens, etc.) Opens up more possibilities for art. 
  • A foundation in flameworking can be a great starting point for problem solving, where other methods for glassworking might not be applicable, and especially for thinking through micro-scaled work, or laser welding glass.
  • Advancement could be considered as inclusive expansion of flameworking into the developing world. Potential for flameworking to be more accessible to people who would not otherwise have access to glassworking. Hotshop is so expensive, although there is a point of entry through scientific glassworking that could be expanded. 
  • More interdisciplinary work incorporating flameworking with other components. 
  • More flameworking represented in Biennials and international shows.
  • Flameworking being represented as art without needing to call it out as flameworking. 
  • More representation for flameworking so that eventually it might become so familiar that we don’t need labels. 
  • The state of the popularity of pipemaking and flameworking is a common force driving students to institutions, however, then once they get to institutions they are often shut down. Thinking of flameworking as technical can be a way around this, and can be applicable for the interest of the next generation and a way to talk about pipes. Technique and design can be common ground to bring everyone together in institutions. Would be great if pipemaking were more open in institutions (not necessarily being able to make pipe objects, but to have a dialog about technique and design.) Use pipes to engage the creativity of students and challenge design conventions.
  • Pipes are an entry point into glass. Take away the stigma of pipemaking. 
  • TikTok as a point of entry – link to classes, resource exchange for more info. 
  • Often we have to follow the market, but it would be great if the jewelry market were as lucrative as the pipe market. 
  • Increased dialogue between flameworkers. (Something we are doing with Flame Affinity Group)
  • “I would love to see fluidity in flameworking with multimedia, non exclusionary, open, limitless in expression.”
  • “I think a large area that isn’t explored enough is interdisciplinary work. Incorporating flameworked glass components, or flameworking techniques into work, and even combining it with other disciplines and media has a lot of potential that hasn’t really been mapped out yet.”
  • “I see a lot of quartz being used.”
What could future action look like?
  • Create or use a platform to cross-pollinate and collaborate on new ways of working.
Suggested Topics for Future Meetings
  • Deep dive discussion on increasing diversity in all areas.
  • Collaboration – what sorts of platforms do you use? 
  • Accessibility and diversity
  • Pipemaking – import some of the stories, voices, history into the community 
  • How does teaching happen in the community? Competition pipemaking? Learn about some of the innovative structures that pipemakers have come up with as solutions to not having access to institutions. 
  • “I’d be interested to hear from flameworkers who do fabrication work! Maybe this could be tied into Paul’s idea of collaboration, and provide useful pointers/career development for people who haven’t done it before.”
  • “I would love to hear from other artists who have not had access to traditional or non traditional education who have had to learn in isolation, and how to mingle with their peers who exist in different artistic spaces.”
  • “I count that (pipe field) among the diversity that I was talking about. Diversity in terms of experience, background and perspective fit into that.”

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LINK TO RESOURCE (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 2/8/22

Flame Affinity Group Meeting Notes: Flameworking in Institutions

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive
A group of flameworkers working together on a shared table for a flameworker performance by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

GEEX Flame Affinity Group
Flameworking in Institutions
Oct 28, 2021 7pm EDT
Facilitated by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith

Notes compiled by Amy Lemaire and Madeline Rile Smith.
Entries in quotes are copied directly from the chat. 

How did you learn to flamework?
  • Self-taught 
  • Books and magazines
  • Open access workshops locally
  • Hot head torch kit
  • Fabricating for other artists and designers
  • Classes through a high school
  • Apprentice/ work for local glassblower
  • Making beads
  • Learning from being around other flameworkers 
  • Learning from teaching & working collaboratively
  • Student in a university glass program 
  • Resources from the Rakow Library
  • Bartering – production work for studio access/classes
  • Work at studio for access/classes
  • Watching You tube videos
  • The Bead Project
  • Doing production beadworking/flameworking
  • Learned from a pipemaker
  • Flame bench in the garage
  • Saw flameworking demo at RIT in high school
  • Salem Community College – associates degree flameworking
  • Learning on the job – scientific glassblowing
  • Flameworking in the summer during breaks from school
  • Always had instruction
  • Apprentice with scientific glassworker, developed lifelong mentorship relationships
  • Started teaching right away
  • Started in the hotshop
  • Contemporary Lampworking book by Bandu Dunham
  • Glass book by John Burton
  • Made pipes on the side (of furnace work)
  • Bead classes at a non-profit art center
  • Supplementary workshops
  • Production work – “get paid to practice”
  • “Apprenticeship with Bob Snodgrass”
  • “At a local craft center”
Where could flameworking reside within or adjacent to institutional programming?
  • Within a university glass department 
  • Supplementary workshops at open access facilities
  • Apprenticeships and internships with flameworkers
  • Outreach programs
  • Within a jewelry design program
  • In the context of entrepreneurship
  • Within the context of painting/ mixed media 
  • Setting up a torch at home to practice
  • Scientific glassblowing
  • Related to engineering – rapid prototyping and fabrication
  • Professional mentorship 
  • Scientific shop at a university 
  • STEM programming
  • Scientific – lean on the fact that scientific glass working is a viable path (STEM)
  • engineering (R & D, silicon valley, scientific glassblowing)
  • In a Sculpture and Design program
What are some of the challenges encountered regarding teaching/learning flameworking in an institution?
  • No formal flameworking classes
  • Limited or no access to equipment 
  • Facilities – “a torch in the corner” scenario in colleges
  • Flameworking discouraged in institutions (within context of furnace glass)
  • “Impossible” to get into glass classes at university
  • Hard to vet info found on the internet (you tube) for quality
  • Have to come up with funding for classes (grants, scholarships)
  • Available resources have toxic or “bro-ey” overtones 
  • Experiencing queerphobia in community space
  • Distinction between furnace glassworking/ torchworking can lead to hierarchy/division
  • Only had access to soda-lime glass, no borosilicate
  • Hierarchy where one mode of working is pitted against the other
  • Having to spend a lot of time convincing people in institutions of the value and potential of flameworking 
  • Perceived stigma of pipemaking
  • Flameworking is not regarded as a medium that is relevant in contemporary art or contemporary glass (stigma in the glass community and in the art community)
  • “Within larger art contexts, most people don’t know enough about glass to care which processes are used”
  • There isn’t much exposure to high school students (so folx can get a jumpstart on learning handskills)
  • Lack of opportunities available for flameworking – scholarships, grants, open calls for exhibit)
  • Lack of professional development in the arts (re: making money off our artwork/skills)
  • Being an artist is considered taboo, not economically viable
  • “Making money off your skills in art is still considered dirty and it is stunting the growth of our development as artists and the growth of our community.”
  • Opportunities available to Students coming out of glass programs and also their Peers in adjacent programs (ceramics, jewelry) are often low-wage, hard labor jobs often in glorified factory settings, even with an MFA 
  • Attitudes that making marketable work is selling out. 
  • Little to no skills are taught for how to make a functional or sellable object. Students focused on making conceptual work, so do not develop marketable skills and are often not even viable as an assistants in some situations. 
  • Institutions are not set up to support long term access (‘overstaying one’s welcome”)
  • Toxic environments in some of the factories/businesses/institutions exploit and underpay workers.
  • Lack of women in the field
  • Lack of diversity in the field 
  • A lot of these glass programs are in places dense with cultural diversity (cities, and rural locations as well), but this is not reflected in the programs. 
  • Institutions tend to be old school, old boys club and still want things run a certain way (Legacy). But new generation is not feeling those attitudes. 
  • Institutions don’t acknowledge these changes in the (art) world which is gravitating away from physical tangible things. Cryptocurrencies, NFT;s and digital art and changing the conversion, and the glass collector market.
  • GAS is largely white (though they are working on changing this)
  • ASGS used to have the “men’s tour” – glassblowing and the “women’s tour”- shopping
  • Not a lot of institutional resources to do outreach.
  • In university programs – mostly women in classes. In flameworking community college program – only a few women in the classes. 
  • Instructors at universities may not feel comfortable teaching flameworking 
  • Students have to weed through info on online platforms like instagram and you tube to find usable material. (ex: #lampworking on instagram)
  • Some of the opportunities available to students (jobs, etc. ) are known toxic environments.
  • Didymium glass is very expensive (for safety glasses) so not everyone can have safety glasses for large demos. 
  • What can we do to help people have access who don’t know about institutions or think that existing institutions aren’t for them?
  • Should we focus on fixing the institutions as they are or start making something new?
  • Letters of recommendation, professional images of work, and submission and application processes are direct barriers to accessing institutions who do not have the resources.
  • Gatekeeping in the education system – our job as educators is to teach people skills they can use, not to decide who gets to learn.
Quotes from the Chat: Challenges teaching/learning flameworking in an institution
  • “A big challenge that I see in accessing flameworking in institutions is having issues in accessing the institutions.”
  • “Not necessarily a challenge, but a lot of students want to learn pipemaking. I see why it’s taboo, but learning pipemaking only expands knowledge on vessel making in general”
  • “Lack of access to resources is a massive issue in UK. There is little opportunity to learn even as a vocational course in this country. The postgraduate programme i’m on has no full time tutors who use torches”
  • “the prejudice that hot glass workers have against flameworking carries over in institutions, in my experience I was the only person in my glass program with any significant flame working experience. I once had a professor tell me to stoop flameworking and focus on hot glass.”
  • “Money is a very important topic! What to do after school is a conversation that I did not hear enough about while I was in school. “
  • Business practices for flameworkers! 
  • “Entrepreneurship on how to create a glass business needs to be a class and how to professionally market yourself for high paying jobs in glass as well”
  • “general business classes are not always very helpful to students looking to start their own glass/art business”
  • “The problem is can school find real successful entrepreneurs, you need to know marketing, product design and etc. The class would almost have to bring in a different teacher every other week or something”
  • “Some university programs strongly discourage students making production while in school “
  • “Try not to limit yourself” is a great saying, but there are people out there who have real limits. Like being able to sustain a practice is a real limit that people have to consider, which is where I think a lot of these production/business questions are getting at.”
  • “And it is a shame that the sort of diversity outreach work we need falls on the shoulders of BIPOC most times”
  • “I think a lot of it comes down to a lack of exposure into these communities. So many people just simply don’t know about flameworking”
  • ““Letters of recommendation” are probably one of the biggest barriers to entry”
  • “The most difficult part of flameworking to improvise (that I’ve run into) is the safety part. I haven’t found a good alternative to the didi glasses to protect from sodium flare.”
How do we address the challenges?
  • Making new online spaces from the ground up which are inclusive and supportive (ex: facebook groups)
  • “I end up teaching my fellow undergrads how to work with the torch”
  • Insist on bringing torches and flameworking bench into the hotshop
  • Lead by example by flameworking in the hotshop and cross-pollinating
  • Consider all modes of glass working (flameworking, furnacework, etc. ) to be equal and valid. 
  • Getting more recognition and visibility within institutions
  • Being an advocate for the value and potential of flameworking in institutions 
  • Exposure to younger people could be beneficial to the community as a whole – high school and younger, also so the time they enter college program, they have some skills to build on
  • Educate the community on how to make a living with flameworking (jobs in the sciences – scientific glassblowing, R & D, tech, etc, and also entrepreneurship (pipemaking, etc. )
  • Create more opportunities for scholarships, open calls for exhibitions, and classes offered for glass and flameworking
  • Bring back apprenticeships
  • Bring in post docs, MFA all together in one class to encourage cross-pollination between the arts and sciences.
  • Create classes with more diversity to encourage cross-pollination (sciences, arts, engineering, etc. ) 
  • More university and institutional programming for flameworking (open access) 
  • Try to collaborate with Scientific glassblowers in institutions.
  • Coming together to discuss inequities and challenges instead of dealing with it individually
  • Pooling our resources
  • Find a community college near you or be willing to travel to a community college for access/instruction
  • Educate students about viable and lucrative career paths in engineering, R&D, scientific glassblowing
  • Reach out to companies (silicon valley, engineering, etc. ) to create opportunities to gain experience/training  for students while still in school through collaborative programming (internships, jobs, apprenticeship, professional mentorship)
  • Schools – improve marketing for professional opportunities in glass (engineering, etc.)
  • Schools could collaborate with tech companies, production companies to create opportunities for students
  • Prep students for professional interviews so they can get professional glass jobs in tech/engineering
  • Lead by example – Hire somebody and pay them well (so they can go out and do the same thing)
  • Open up more discussion about professional development in schools
  • Normalize being an artist who supports themselves with their art.
  • Normalize production work and fabrication as a viable way to sustain an income in the arts
  • Teach students more marketable skills – project management, handskills, teamwork, professional communication, budgeting)
  • Teach students to become self employed to support themselves (and  normalize supplementing self-employment  with other work)
  • Teach people to set up an independent torch setup (low cost/overhead)
  • Use the internet to connect with a market – the internet is vast! Harness the power of social media to connect with an audience.
  • Create diversity outreach programs to connect POC in local communities. – you can make a career in glass. 
  • Bring more FREE opportunities for women and BIPOC folx
  • Get a group of artists engineers, makers, together and start showing some other models for what glassworking looks like – maybe online platforms like tic tok
  • Create new models and collaborations that contextualize glass in the context of cryptocurrencies, digital art, NFT’s – 
  • address the changes that are really effecting the next generation and acknowledge a movement away from tangible/physical objects.
  • Create new spaces for the new generation – both digital and physical institutions. 
  • Develop a “Kahn Academy of Glassworking”, instructional videos, maybe use a Patreon page to fund it. 
  • Create programming with business programming geared towards creatives. (ex: program in Boston where students 12-14 yr. had business class in morning, alternated between flame and furnace work in pm and had a gallery to sell work in as part of the program.)
  • Continue building the community when we start to pull people in (through outreach programs, etc. )
  • Make resources available to teachers to make it easier for people to teach flameworking. 
  • Showing examples of artists work to show many different ways to flamework – maybe in an open source online gallery scenario that could be searchable.
  • What is the most basic (inexpensive and simple) systems that can be set up for flameworking and what can be done with that? (Ex. stringers and an alcohol candle, hothead torch, etc. – creativity comes from limitations)
  • Provide longevity within institutions to support glassmakers. (who do not have access to resources)
  • Vet opportunities for students that are safe and not toxic work environments. 
  • Get a diddyclip or didymium filter for your camera and a television and present the demos for the public on a screen so that everyone can safely watch. 
  • Compiling high quality educational videos that are vetted for teaching.
  • Put videos out of instructional demos (even in the context of a business, or product making) – process videos will help your business.
  • Do away with letters of recommendation – direct barrier for scholarships, access to institutions for POC
  • Rethink application and submission processes for accessing institutions to remove the barriers for POC – maybe set up a table in the community and register people at in person events. POC might not have extra time/leisure time so meet people where they feel comfortable – make it easy and remove the barriers for entry. 
  • Build a new system that’s not based off the western (white, privileged) way of doing things from the ground up.
  • “Could GEEX be a viable platform to experiment with making new systems?”
  • “Have your Art Dept. come to your glassblowing area to try things out. “
  • “I think schools that teach glass processes have a responsibility to introduce flameworking as it is the most accesible way to continue glassworking after students graduate and keep their hands on glass”
  • “The glass world needs to lean more into science and engineering”
  • “A new age glass center might be a good idea to create, these older school center are stuck in their ways.”
  • “I think a place like Salem and other organizations could create a youtube channel together”
  • “I like the idea of creating something new. I also feel like the existing institutions have a lot of baggage to overcome and wonder if it would actually be easier to start something new rather than fix what’s there.”
  • “Maybe every few weeks someone create some piece of art and science and Salem post to there youtube”
  • “more women in the field”
  • “I was hoping to create a direct alternative to Torch Talk on Facebook with the Rainbow Flameworkers Coalition. I am afraid of retaliation from them if I name it as a direct foil to that group”
  • “More resources for BIPOC flameworkers, or environments for diverse flameworkers
  • more cross-pollination across disciplines”
  • “How can we create, offer, and expand on free classes for interested students?”
  • “online and in person classes, workshop, pop up store event and exhibition “
  • “There’s a part of me that thinks one of the basic steps of getting the field more diverse is to get more people started in that field. And I think a part of that is to figure out how to get more people started with the bare minimum about of startup costs.”
  • “People of color need to see that it’s possible to make money off of glass”
  • “What about creating a mobile studio and going to underserved areas and doing demos?
  • The other question is, how can we provide free lessons in glass, while still paying the teacher for their work and experience”
  • “visiting predominantly BIPOC highschools in the area?”
  • “You could take a few students and host a workshop at several different BIPOC highschools
  • This is something that would benefit Tyler School to do too! we’re around so many schools k-12 yet seldom visit the shop”
  • “The bare minimum to get started that I found is getting a MAPP gas torch, some stainless steel welding rods, some clay for bead release, and a crock pot full of vermiculite for an annealer. (And some glass, of course)”
  • “And when privileged white folks are the ones reaching out it doesn’t always give the right impression”
  • “mutual aid”
What are some of the resources currently available for learning/teaching flameworking?
  • YouTube videos (playlists, vetted)
  • Workshops at local open access glass facilities
  • Books and magazines
  • Facebook groups 
  • Resource Exchange (GEEX) – open source resource lists
  • Open access programming (Pilchuck, Penland, Pittsburgh Glass Center, etc. )
  • Community College (for cheap access) (Salem Community College)
  • TikTok
  • GEEX Affinity Group
  • Outreach programs like The Bead Project, Glass Roots
  • Community college is FREE in NJ for anyone with Gross Adjusted Income of less than 65K/yr 
  • Supply lists for setting up a basic teaching studio and a solo flameworking setup.
  • A collection of videos showing what flameworking looks like in different parts of  the world.
  • Playlist of Lectures (historical, contextual)
  • https://libguides.cmog.org/flameworking
  • Playlist of youtube videos circulation in pipemaking community (420 videos)
  • https://youtube.com/c/revereglass
  • https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=9239
  • “I took business of art classes at NYFA and at my local arts council. Check out resources in your area. They covered everything from marketing, websites, taxes, law issues, etc. (look beyond glass)”
  • “torch talk FB group although the culture is moderately toxic” 
  • “GAS was my first venture out into the world of glass beyond Southern California”
  • “Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Residency – Corning …https://www.cmog.org 
  • “michigan glass project seems to be doing something right”
  • “PGC offers many opportunities to the glass & non glass community. “
  • “I put my demos on blackboard for the University of Ma. YouTube for the University of Vermont”
  • “I always recommend a hothead torch and beadmaking kit when people are really interested. Could even hand these out”
  • “Love the online gallery idea – great for new students, but also to help the public understand the potential of flameworking”
  • https://www.didyclips.com/product/didyclip “Or You can make one with a lens from some broken glasses”, “also Aura lenses makes a similar product, also one that screws over a DSLR camera”
What Resources would be helpful for learning/teaching flameworking?
  • Make more inclusive and supportive community spaces
  • High quality vetted videos for teaching (especially beginner)
  • Develop a “Kahn Academy of Glassworking”, instructional videos, maybe use a Patreon page to fund it. 
  • Showing examples of artists work to show many different ways to flamework – maybe in an open source online gallery scenario that could be searchable.
  • “Access to maintained torches and equipment better designed for torchworking (Kilns, tools, ect) with my current school specifically.”
  • “residencies & idea furnace opportunities for non glass artists. “
  • A collection of resources, videos about flameworking. Flameworking demos.
  • More videos for absolute beginners – ex. Turning the torch on for the first time
  • A list of technical exercises for beginners to practice on the torch 
  • “More resources for BIPOC flameworkers, or environments for diverse flameworkers”
  • “How can we create, offer, and expand on free classes for interested students?”

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LINK TO RESOURCE (GOOGLE DOC)

Last updated: 8/25/22

Intro to Glass Art Demonstration Zines!

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

“These are a collection of zines based on the demonstrations and visiting artists presentations during Art 3003 AU2021 at The Ohio State University, taught by Brianna Gluszak. Each student was assigned a demo or presentation to take notes during, then re-form their notes into a zine to be shared with the class. This assignment not only produced an interesting collection of written (drawn) glass resources, it also neutralized the need within the classroom for a note taker.”

GIF rotating between editions of Intro to Glass Art Demonstration Zines, made by the students of OSU.

First Day in Hot Shop – Celeste Carpenter
Bit Structure Demo – Victoria Taylor
Press Molds with Richard Harned – Helene Roussi
Stained Glass with Richard Harned- Sydney Mitchell
Collaborative demo between Andrew Newbold and Brianna Gluszak – Emma Morgan
Intro to Cold Shop – Henry Mayeux
Collaborative demo between Jon Capps and Molly Burke – Rebecca Irmen
Intro to Imagery on Glass – Mia Kordowski
Imagery on Glass (powder printing) – Madison Gladman
Visiting Artist Kim Harty – Gianni Giarrano
Visiting Artist Ben Wright – Kaitlyn Smith

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Brianna Gluszak

KSU Glass Resource Site

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

Kent State University Glass’ Resource Site, featuring helpful intro guides for glassblowing, mold-making, kiln-casting, and more.

“The most useful individual pages are: https://ksuglass.wordpress.com/technical-materials/ and https://ksuglass.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/glass-rescources/. The first is a (non-comprehensive) list of useful technical documents for basic glassmaking. The second is a list of links to material/info suppliers that students might find useful.”

Screenshot of Kent State University Glass Program's Glass Resource Site, featuring an image of a large blown vessel being worked on

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Davin Ebanks

Portable Polariscope

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

“This is a design for a portable polariscope. A polariscope is a useful tool for viewing stress in transparent materials such as glass or plastic. Using either linear or circular polarization, stress in glass is visible through the polariscope viewfinder.  It is a useful teaching tool for understanding the properties of glass or plastics, and a necessity in the glassblowing studio to aid in the fabrication, quality control and troubleshooting of glass work.”

Image of an illuminated portable polariscope. The 3D printed object features a portable flashlight that reflects onto two screens in parallel with each other.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Amy Lemaire

The Whiteness of Glass, 2020

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

The Whiteness of Glass is a creative essay written by Related Tactics and commissioned by Susie Silbert, Curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass for New Glass Review. Related Tactics (Michele Carlson, Weston Teruya, and Nate Watson) is a multidisciplinary collective of artists of color creating work together at the intersection of race and culture. Formed in 2015, Related Tactics projects utilize a variety of modes—sculpture, writing, print, social engagement, and curatorial tactics—to explore the connections between art; movements for equity and justice; and the public.

You can find their November 2021 GEEX Talk here.

Snippet of "Whiteness of Glass, 2020", written by Related Tactics for the Corning Museum of Glass New Glass Review.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Related Tactics

ASGS (American Scientific Glassblowers Society) Midwest Section Video Library

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

“After substantial conversation and review the Midwest Board has decided to open up our video library to the general public. Please take a look at our Midwest page on the ASGS site which has been updated to include a video library. This will be the starting place for you to find all videos available through the Midwest Section. You can also go directly to our YouTube channel to see thumbnails and titles. If you subscribe to the channel and click on notifications you will be sent a notice when the next new video is available.”

Screenshot of ASGS (american scientific glassblowers society) Midwest Section YouTube page

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Erich Moraine

Glassblowers Guide

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

“Glassblowers Guide is a resource for seasoned and aspiring glassblowers that offers high-quality videos focused purely on working with soft glass in the hotshop. GlassblowersGuide.com features a host of free videos, several short instructional series, and a 6+ hour, 22 video course called Understanding Hot Glass. UHG is designed to be more than just a step-by-step guide on how to make some specific shapes, but rather an in-depth exploration into glass as a material to give students a framework for really understanding the how and why of glassblowing… and also step-by-step instructions on how to make some specific shapes.”

Screenshot of glassblowersguide.com homepage

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Nikolaj Christensen

Broken Glass Lecture Series

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

“Cutting thr​​ough disciplines, our invited speakers will shed light on glass from multiple, often complementary perspectives. An archeologist will review three thousand years of glass making, an art historian a thousand years of stained glass from the Romanesque period to the present. An architect considers light through glass as science and poetry; a physicist grapples with dislocations, and with them glass relaxing, flowing. A historian of science and a chemist report jointly on the deciphering of ancient texts with a kiln at hand; a computational materials scientist simulates the deformation, the fracture of glass. Guided by a visual artist, we follow the primal energy of a glass making workshop feeding the fancy of contemporary artists; then conclude as we must with a critical theorist questioning “the very idea of a medium that transposes an immediacy beyond mediation”. Part hall of mirrors, part kaleidoscope, and you the listener, the virtual glass maker, assembling a mosaic as you probe the heart of the matter, the probe the heart of the matter, the heart​ of glass.”

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Resource submitted by Helen Lee

What IS Glass?

by geexadminin Glass Resource Exchange Archive

“This is a lecture I gave in Feb 2019 at the invitation of the chemistry department of the University of Toledo. I describe in an accessible way for non-scientists what glass is. And offer examples of how that understanding can seed discussions on other topics about glass behavior.”

A Conversation with Dr. Jane Cook by Marilyn Horne on Knowledge Stream.

LINK TO RESOURCE

Resource submitted by Dr. Jane Cook