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Glass has an almost magical quality. Because it is translucent, it seems to glow from within. This makes it an ideal medium for art. While some glass artists work with glass in its solid state (cold glass), the artists in this exhibit all work with glass in a molten state (hot glass). Working with molten glass requires great heat and specialized equipment. Some ways of working with molten glass are glass blowing, shaping or fusing molten glass in a kiln, or casting it in molds. The artists in this exhibit have come up with unique ways of working with glass and even invented some equipment that allows them to do their work.
The glass artist included in this exhibit, Ron Peiser, is known as a leader in the highly innovative contemporary craft artist field. These glass artists use high temperatures and specialized equipment to create their work, so it is unlikely that you will be able to provide hands-on glass sculpture experiences in your classroom. However, students can view the work and the accompanying power point in order to begin to understand the qualities of glass as a medium and the various techniques and processes of working with glass.
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National Standards Addressed:
Content Standard #1:
Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Achievement Standard:
• Students select media, techniques, and processes; analyze what makes them effective or not effective in communicating ideas; and reflect upon the effectiveness of their choices
• Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas
Content Standard #1
Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Achievement Standard:
Proficient:
• Students apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity that their intentions are carried out in their artworks
• Students conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use
Advanced:
• Students communicate ideas regularly at a high level of effectiveness in at least one visual arts medium
• Students initiate, define, and solve challenging visual arts problems independently using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
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Pre- and Post-Visit Activities
Curator's Statement
Jean McLaughlin, Contemporary Curator
Glass seduces. It reflection and transmission of light is at the root of its attraction. It appears to be movement arrested although in actuality it remains in motion. Its combination of light, color and movement causes it to be perceived as such a stunningly beautiful material. While material is molten and incandescent, glass workers influence or moderate the form but can never touch it with their hands. Glass work is characterized by a close association with extreme heat and the need for assistance. Because of its ceaselessly moving molten flow, glassworkers usually work in teams.
Vocabulary:
translucent, medium, molten, glass blowing, kiln, casting
Lesson Plans:
Media-Based Activities:
1. Ask students to define each of the vocabulary words above.
2. Have students research the history of glass. Ask them to write an essay or make a presentation that includes the raw ingredients used in making glass, an overview of the use of glass in art throughout history, and the functional uses of glass in contemporary society.
3. Ask students to compare and contrast two pieces of glass art from the exhibit in terms of the principles of design (see the PowerPoint™ in the Clay Gallery for an example of the process).
4. Use polymer clay to explore the creation of murrini. For a complete lesson plan aligned to national standards.
6. Read the article Murrini Madness.
7. If you do have a kiln and want to try a glass casting project with your secondary students, visit this site.
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Cross-Curricular Connections:
Content Standard # 6
Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines
Achievement Standard
• Students describe ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated with the visual arts
Science (High School)
1. Have students visit http://science.howstuffworks.com for a scientific explanation of why glass is transparent.
2. Have students visit http://math.ucr.edu for a discussion of whether glass is a liquid or a solid.
3. Have students visit http://pubs.acs.org for a discussion of the properties of glass and its use throughout history.
4. Ask students to explain how one of the glass artists in the exhibit has taken advantage of the unique physical properties in creating their artwork.
Social Studies (High School)
1. Have students visit http://news.bbc.co.uk for a discussion of glass manufacture in ancient Egypt.
2. Have students visit http://www.blm.gov for a description of a 19th century glass factory. Ask them to research early glass manufacture in their own state.
3. Ask students to research the history of art glass in Italy and to compare and contrast the art glass of that period with the contemporary art glass represented by the glass artists in this exhibit.
Vocational Studies
Have students visit http://www.corning.com to explore career opportunities in industrial glass.
Web-Based Resources:
There are glass studios that provide tours and hands-on activities, such as the Glass Factory in Louisville, Kentucky, so a field trip might be an exciting possibility. The Kokomo Opalescent Glass Factory in Kokomo, Indiana, has a virtual tour that can give your students a visual sense of the heat involved in working with molten glass.
For a glossary of terms used in glass work, go to http://www.glassartistsgallery.com/gagInfoGlassArt.htm
or
http://www.spectrumglass.com/Dictionary/DictionSet.html
To see work by many glass artists, go to www.glassartists.org
See work by glass artists in the PBS Craft in American virtual exhibit. You will also learn about the artists and find links to educational resources.
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