About the Author

1. Angus 3.19.2008 | 10.50am

   This is great guys…
   Thanks you all for setting this up and thank you Martin for your time!
   the student will be in touch.
   angus
2. Alissa Faber 3.23.2008 | 4.13pm

   I ‘mreally excited for the chance to view live glass demos that are happening across the country.
   Thanks so much for setting this up with Alfred.
   We are asked to think of questions for you about you art and process, but before I see you working this week I had a question from viewing your slides…Who is climbing head first into that mold and what was the outcome of that act?
   Hope everyone at he Museum of Glass had a good Easter.
   Alissa
3. Martin Blank 3.31.2008 | 1.55pm

   Hi Alissa,
   First off to everyone at Alfred, I am equally excited to be sharing with you all! This is one of those once in a lifetime projects that is so exciting and inspirational for an artist to have.

   I really look forward to all of your questions. There is so much to talk about. I am sending you a DVD my particular style and approach to sculpting glass.

   As to your specific question…that’s me climbing into a giant mold from my summer residency. I was packing it with wet newspaper in-between the gaps and sliced wood to prevent any blow outs that might happen. We then gathered a huge quantity of glass then blew it into the mold creating a 3 foot center glass rock that we then added smaller subsequent glass rocks creating an arrangement with the idea of a Rioanji rock garden feel. It was much harden that I expected and took two and a half hours to make on the end of blow pipe in front of a giant furnace. We annealed is for three days and it came out cracked. I’ll probably attempt it again in the near future.
4. Tom Ryder 4.5.2008 | 7.58pm

   Martin, as a student I find it’s easy to assemble a team of people to assist me with large scale and or complex glass pieces. Can you talk a little about what it’s like being a practicing artist and assembling a crew of people to work with you? Who do you usually work with? How did these people become part of your team? Also what does it take to run the show in the hot shop I find every part of what I do when I’m working with a group important including things like tone of voice and body language. Have you worked with the same people for a long time? Does everything usually click and work with your team?
5. Jon Sirockman 4.12.2008 | 10.51am

   Hi Martin
   This is a kind of follow up to Tom’s question. I was wondering if your own processes changed because of the team you were working with at the museum. Did you find yourself going bigger as a result of having a larger team. It seems like you were going for something large, with the mold you were climbing in, is that something new you were trying because you had many more people assisting.
   I was also interested in how your ideas came about. In the video you talk about the emotive qualities of water and steam and you desire to represent them in glass. Has this been something you have been pondering for awhile and brought with you to the museum or were you inspired by the reflecting pool and the area around it?
6. Jon Sirockman 4.12.2008 | 10.56am

   im sorry I did look at you hot shop photos on your web site before asking that did you go bigger question. I have never seen that much glass on a pipe before… that crazy big. Good idea with the turn wheel.

   So new question did you feel at all limited because you didn’t have things like that from your studio at the museum?
7. Carolyn Kassnoff 4.17.2008 | 7.22am

   Martin, you said the glass acts as your sketchbook. Do you often sculpt with other materials to complete the sketch, adding additional design elements with metal or wood to the pieces?