SESSIONS FOR BECON 2009
KEYNOTE: WHAT DOES GLASS WANT TO BE WHEN IT GROWS UP?
Janet Koplos
What are the goals of contemporary work in cast glass? And what are the qualities that support rather than hamper the achievement? How is achievement measured and why does glass get no respect? Learn the perspective of respected art critic, lecturer, and curator Janet Koplos—contributing editor at Art in America magazine and author/co-author of nine books, including the forthcoming Makers: A History of American Studio Craft and Murano/Venice: Three Artists Three Visions.
ON THE COUCH WITH CLIFFORD
Clifford Rainey and Richard Whiteley
Clifford Rainey’s casting practice combines the rigor of a British education in the arts with the free-wheeling mindset of an itinerant Irish lad landed in California. We could think of no better way to kick off BECon 2009 than by inviting the equally multi-national artist and educator Richard Whiteley to lead Rainey—and ourselves—through what we expect will be the first of many conversations on the topics of thinking and making in kilncast glass.
FROM THE PRIVACY OF THE STUDIO TO THE REALM OF PUBLIC ART
Howard Ben Tré
In his lecture Howard Ben Tré will focus on the relationship between working in the privacy of the studio on individual sculptures and the transformation of that work into site-specific commissions. The discussion will encompass the most recent public and private projects, including the redesign of the town center of Warrington, England; Target Headquarters Plaza; and a private residence in Israel, as well as new sculptures completed in 2009.
EMERGING PERSPECTIVES IN KILNCASTING FROM RIT
Rebecca Arday, Shane Caryl, Drew Smith, & Cassandra Straubing
From December 8, 2008 to January 16, 2009, three graduates and one current student of the glass program at the Rochester Institute of Technology did exploratory work in the medium of kilncasting at the Bullseye Research & Education Department. Learn about what they intended to do, what they actually achieved on technical, aesthetic, and conceptual fronts, and how this experience has or will inform them moving forward.
THINK SLOW - MAKE...? THE EVOLUTION OF A HYBRID PRACTICE
Geoffrey Mann
The expression “to make” is ubiquitous within the applied arts, habitually associated with the handcrafted artifact. Through the marrying of digital technologies and traditional processes, Geoffrey Mann's studio practice, Studio*Mrmann, questions the role of the contemporary practitioner within the making process and explores the possibilities and impact of the physical form upon intangibility of digital media materialized through the creative language of glass.
STRESS, OUT! AVOIDING PAINFUL BREAKS AND STRAINS
Richard Whiteley & Ted Sawyer
What is annealing? How are annealing charts derived and why are they sometimes changed? How do you know what's really happening in the kiln? What happens with the introduction of refractory mold materials and irregular forms? Get answers to these questions and more based on research undertaken at Bullseye, the Australian National University, and in private practice.
Fat Bottom Box—One Glass: Multiple Techniques
Jessica Loughlin
Through multiple firings, Loughlin combines fused and cast glass components to create illusions of graduating density, translating the airborne into solid space and the perception of moisture held and suspended. In this lecture, Loughlin will discuss the process of creating her box forms—from the drive to find techniques to materialize her aesthetic, to the technical process itself.
IDEAL CASTING KILNS
Daniel Clayman and Bullseye Research & Education staff
Does the ideal kilncasting kiln exist? Probably, but what is ideal for one type of kilncast glass work may not be right for another type of work. So we are left with that most troubling of answers, “It depends.” Presenters in this session will address some of the fundamental issues (including materials, element placement, power, and control systems) as a point of departure before discussing the strengths of a variety of types of kilns ranging from commercially available to custom made. They will also share some innovative approaches such as modular systems that are assembled around the mold and a multi-chambered kiln in which the glass and the mold are kept separate during the initial stages of firing and are heated to different temperatures.
THICK WITH IMAGES
Jeffrey Sarmiento
There are many different technologies available for putting computer-manipulated graphics and photographs onto glass, and Jeffrey Sarmiento has experience with most of them, including photographic emulsion, sandblasting, screenprinting, transfers, and waterjet cutting. In this presentation Jeffrey will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches and the methods he uses to embed layers of text, image and pattern in works ranging from thick slabs to kilncastings.
MADE WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF...
Melanie Hunter
Many of us in who work in the medium of glass are familiar with the works of Nicolas Africano, but fewer know the name of a key person responsible for bringing his works into being: Melanie Hunter. Hunter, an artist in her own right, has worked as Africano's studio assistant since 1993 and, in that time, has developed a number of highly successful processes for kilncasting figurative sculpture. Hunter will discuss these methods and provide her unique perspective on the life of a studio technician.
HOW TO CAST GLASS ACROSS THE WORLD
Jaqueline Cooley & Marshall Hyde
What has two brains, four hands, one goal and is over 3000 miles long from end to end? It's the team of UK artist Jaqueline Cooley and US artist Marshall Hyde, who will show us how they use technology to collaborate on projects in real time while remaining (mostly) on their respective continents.
BEYOND THE OBJECT
Chick Butcher
The physical object is materially present for all to examine and scrutinize, but invisible to the eye is the collection of physical and emotional events involved in the object's creation that lies scattered behind the scene. Beyond The Object will reveal some of the inner workings that one contends with in producing art.
ON COLOUR, GLASS, AND LIGHT
Heike Brachlow
Many factors govern the appearance of color in kilncast glass: form, size, volume, and surface quality of the object, as well as angle, type and intensity of incidental light. In this lecture Heike Brachlow will discuss how glass allows color to take form and merges color, form and light.
CHALLENGES
Dan Clayman
To start Dan will set out his esthetic, in which he typifies his work as “solutions to a continual evolution of self imposed questions about structures, light and negative space.” After setting this groundwork Dan will move on to the “how” of what he accomplishes. Using a plethora of studio process shots, he will explain how some of the hurdles of casting large-scale sculptures are overcome. The conclusion of the lecture will include the advent of computer modeling and related sculptural techniques he has learned over the past three years.