Understanding Sculpture

When viewing contemporary art, it is natural for people to experience different things. The experience can be extraordinarily moving and beautiful for some while being threatening, disturbing or downright intimadating for others. Some works of “art” may be regarded with apathy or indifference. We can feel the same way when hearing a foriegn language that we do not comprehend. Just because you don't understand the language, doesn't mean you should dismiss the person as having nothing valuable to say.

“I don't get it”...are four little words often heard in museums and galleries worldwide. Contemporary artworks and pieces “on the cutting edge” have throughout time dumbfounded the general viewing public. Most works of art selected for exhibition have been chosen by the curator to enlighten and not confuse the viewer. Nevertheless some sculptures do remain questionable, e.g. “Is it art”, or “ Why is that 'thing' here?” and of course the question on everybody's mind: “Wonder how much that costs?”. Usually these questions, and others like them, go unanswered and the ignorance continues. The solution to the problem is information and education.

This article will introduce you to some terms, techniques and concepts of contemporary sculpture using glass as the medium. Understanding the depth and complexities of the sculptor's 'vocabulary' is an excellent way to begin a foundation in art appreciation. There are reasons why glass is such a hot item and the medium of choice for so many artists today. Glass is seductive and strong, elusive and fragile. It offers the purest of colors and interacts with light in ways no other medium can. Even when its completely colorless, it can speak volumes. Sculpture, like most forms of art, has its roots in communication, and it is there that we begin.

Communication

When you want to communicate an idea or feeling to another person on this planet, you have many options. The simplest thing to do is to just go ahead and say it aloud. Maybe that person will get the message a-ok. that is if they are close enough to hear it and “speak your language.” You can affect how the sender receives their message and the overall impact of it by whispering it or shouting it out at the top of your lungs. This may be referred to as presentation.

What if the person isn't close enough to hear you directly. You still have many options in the way you can get your message across. You can phone, fax or e-mail the message if the receiver is connected via along those lines of communication. You could write your message on the wall or type it in a letter, in hopes someone will read it. What if the person doesn't speak your language? How do you get the message across then? Well, you can try sign language or using symbols or other objects to represent the things or ideas that you have in mind. Every culture recognizes certain shapes and elements of human emotion and endeavor. These are referred to as universals, in that just about everybody in the universe knows what it is you're talking about. The image or sculpture of a mother and child is one such example.

It occurs in every culture in one fashion or another. Every culture has their own traditions in how such an image is displayed or presented. Today, in our globalized society, there are many options available, more than ever before.

Media or Mediums

Remarkably the discovery of glassmaking is over 5,000 years old and actual glassblowing is at least 2,000 years old. In that time we have amassed quite a bit of knowledge about the material itself and they way it behaves. Glassblowing has its own set of rules and traditions that artists can choose to work within or escape from.

When you start out to make work of art (in order to express yourself), you often take a moment to decide what material you want to use in order to say or depict what it is you have envisioned. Throughout time, the material has been what we have at hand at any given moment. Aboriginal artworks are almost exclusively made of natural materials garnered from the environment. With the advent of technology and industrialization, some “not-so-natural” materials have become available for people to use in creating artworks.

Selecting the right material for the job is no simple task when you consider how many different substances we as modern society have been able to produce. Artists throughout history have worked in “traditional materials and methods”, often learned from a master or close relative. Stone, wood, clay and natural fibers were amongst the first on the scene. Can you guess why?

As man's knowledge of fire and the elements developed, metal in its various forms became a material to work with and master.(glass in the early days was referred to as a “metal”). Still, the selection of the correct material to work with is often the one that's the most readily available and easiest to control. Or it is the material that you are the most familiar with.

Qualities & Characteristics

Each and every material exhibits its own set of qualities which separates it from the rest. Some of the characteristics are purely visual, while others may relate to mass,texture,hardness, temperature, or ability to be manipulated. For example, let's look at 3 similar sculptures, each made from a different material, and describe the qualities that we see(go through the following checklist to identify/qualify the work)

• Is it....Shiny or dull?
• Light or heavy?
• See-through(transparent/translucent) or dark(opaque)?
• Rough or smooth?
• Inviting or scary?
• Fragile or solid?
• Stationary or moving?
• Natural or man-made materials?

Scale

Bigger is Better or so the saying goes in the United States. On that note a thing or two about scale. Scale is a sculptural term for size; size in relationship to other objects (or more commonly man). There are small-scale or miniature works which can easily fit inside the palm of your hand. There are mid-sized pieces which may easily be displayed on a pedestal or (heaven-forbid) a coffee table.

There are works which are human in scale or life size, and others which are larger-than-life or monumental in stature.There are increasing numbers of architectural applications of glass that go well-beyond the confines of traditional stained glass and only attest to the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of this material. Glass does have some limitations which might influence the size to which you can make any given piece.

Hot worked glass-things made on a pipe or punty-can only be made so large. It is physically next-to-impossible to blow or sculpt objects larger than a human being on a blowpipe, although there are a handful of artists who are pushing this very envelope. They have designed and built some very special equipment allowing them to make pieces well over 120lbs(50kg) and over nine feet in length(3m), with the aid of three or four trained assistants.

The casting process, however, offers artists an avenue to create collossal scuptures made in one piece or in several interlocking pieces. Works by artists such as Howard Ben Tre', Stansilav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová have pushed the envelope in terms of what is possible in the area of cast glass.

Some monumental or architectural works, (including installations), will incorporate a multitude of smaller objects exhibited together on a massive scale. These works command your attention by filling your field of vision with virtual 'eye-candy'. Naturally, the bigger the piece, the higher the price tag, both for manufacture and for sale. Often, teams of people are involved in the creation of such works with big budgets and ever-shrinking time-tables(not-too-dissimilar to what happens on a movie-set.)

Scale plays an important role in how people view your artwork. Small scaled micro-mosiacs, highly detailed lampworked inclusions and colorful murrine are some examples of glass which are sculpted in minute forms. These pieces can focus your attention to things that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. They may even require that you get a magnifying glass in order to view them thoroughly! For example, a paperweight by Paul Stankard can contain literally hundreds of individual stringers and blobs of glass which simulate some form of botanical beauty that you'd swear there were real plants encapsulated in the crystal. Or a section of murrine smaller than a postage stamp may contain the entire Lord's prayer in it (as made by Richard Marquis over thirty years ago).

An object which can easily slip into your pocket has a preciousness and intimacy which people throughout time have cherished. An installation of small scaled works can have a tremendous impact on a large viewing audience, and should not be overlooked when engaging in the pursuit of fine art or creative endeavors. Bigger is definitely not better, it's simply more noticeable.

Form & Composition

Form and compositon are major elements to consider in both discussing and creating sculpture. When you get inspired to create a new work of art, you have to make some decision as to the form and shape of the object you have in mind.

Let's say for example that you have a powerful dream one night which is equestrian in nature. It's not enough to say “I want to sculpt a horse-thing”. It's simply too vague. There are practical things to consider such as how big?(see previous paragrahs on scale), or in what position should the horse be posed? Size and positioning have a tremendous influence on how people view your work and the reaction that they may have to it. This is what we refer to as composition. If the horse is depicted as rearing-up on its hind legs, we may see the animal as victorious, or raging in anger, or merely celebrating its life as a free roaming creature: unattached by the bonds of man.

On the other hand, if the horse is rendered laying on its side, we may see it as being sick or even deceased. This evokes a much different feeling than the previous example, yet they both depict the exact same subject. Even slight changes in the horse can have significant meaning or impact. These stylistic variations are the key components of composition.

Balance, weight, thrust, angles/curves and interaction in space and the enviornment are other major players in determining composition. Exactly how the piece sits, or even the material or structure on which the sculpture rests upon is integral to its presentation.

Content & Context

The subject matter of certain sculptures seem blatantly obvious whereas other works of art seem to make no sense whatsoever. In other words, some work speaks for itself while others seem to defy explanation. It is not always easy to recognize the artists' intent when viewing sculpture. Sometimes a title might help ascertain what it is that the sculptor is dealing with, but not always (it's kind of a bummer that so many artists refer to their work as untitled but that's the way it is). Outlined below are a few of the styles of sculpture that have predominated the art world in recent times, without all of the ism's that art critics tend to banter about.

Abstract refers to work that has no recognizable subject matter.(funny how so many pieces today get clumped into this catagory). The overall feeling or driving force for the work may be geometric, hard edge or minimalistic. Other 'abstract' pieces may deal with something more organic in nature; terms such as anthropomorphic, or even phallic or vaginal may be used to describe such sculptures.

In conceptual art, it is the idea that is of the upmost importance. The meaning may be obvious or obscure. Some sculptures challenge the viewer into thinking a great deal about what it is that they are looking.

The range of conceptual work is incredibly broad. For some artists who work in glass it is the break from tradition that becomes the focus of the work. They may acknowledge the tradition of glassmaking in a completely different context than in the way that we are most familiar with seeing it.

Non-functional work is fairly self-descriptive. The focus of the work may be how light and form interact with color. The actual piece may be based on a traditionally functional object, but through the artists intent and presentation, function takes a back seat and we can experience the form in a whole new way.

Functional pieces are created with a specific purpose in mind. Quite often they are associated with everyday utilitarian objects, such as a vase or a bowl. This type of work is steeped in tradition. It is made possible by the most skilled and highly trained craftsmen in the world. The art is in the making of the object, its complexity, and ultimately, in the very end, its presentation.

Figurative works relate to the human form and/or human condition. Human anatomy is amongst the most difficult of forms to render in a realistic style. Can you guess why?
The human form has complex shapes, structure, and proportions that we all take for granted. The human form is also very recognizable. People think that they know it inside and out, but when it comes time to rendering the form, man, look out! It isn't easy, and if you don't have all the proportions correct, it will stand out like a sore thumb and be visually grotesque.

Why Choose Glass?

Even though glassmaking has been around for thousands of years, it is only in the past thirty or so years that its value as an art medium has been nurtured and developed. Breaking free from the confines and traditions of craft and industrial applications, artists in the mid-to-late 1960's took glassmaking out of the factory and into the studio. There they explored the amazing complexities that this medium has to offer.

Glass is a pretty unique substance as far as art materials go. It can be dull or shiny, transparent, translucent or completely opaque. It can seem as warm as the hottest fires of Murano, or colder than Antartica's glacial ice formations. The surface of glass can be made rough or smooth, sharp or jagged and dangerous to handle.

Glass when cold is very hard, yet also very fragile. It will outlast virtually all other art forms(provided it doesn't break) in that it resists age and weathering from the environmental conditions of planet Earth. Art historians refer to this property as archival, or in other words, likely to stick around long after were dead and gone...(Yet another reason to choose glass-it'll be around FOREVER...until somebody drops it, crushes it or melts it back down...).

Glass when molten can be quite soft and extremely versatile. You can stretch it, squash it, and blow it into smithereens (or virtually anything else you can think of....). You can poke it, punch it, press it, cast it, spin it, quench it, smash it or sculpt it. What you can't do is touch it! Darn!(yet that is one of the reasons glass is so attractive to work with; it's so forbidding!). When molten, the material is so seductive and yet so elusive. It defies most attempts to master it. The prohibitive nature of direct handling requires the use of specialized tools and elaborate procedures. It can be extremely complicated and intense. Yet hot glass is one of the most immediate of all art-making processes. Most pieces of blown glass are made in 90 minutes or less(After some 10-20 years of practice by the gaffer and team).

Glass is a naturally attractive substance which yields some very unique properties. Optics is one of them. Using clear or crystal glass immediately sets your work apart from the rest. There are only a few other substances which are transparent or completely colorless...can you name some of them?

You can incorporate many scientific principles on the behavior of light within the realm your artwork by exploiting the optical qualities of glass(see Libenský, Weinberg, Reis, and Kallenberger for a few examples). The focus of the work may be simply using the brilliance of the material and the way it interacts with natural and artificial lighting.

Color is also a major component of glasses remarkable attributes. The ability of glass to capture and transmit light is unparalleled by virtually all other substances. This is another reason glass is so attractive, and why many painters have been lured away from their oils and watercolors.

Dale Chihuly paints with color (As Seen On T.V...), as easily as the acrylics flow from his squirt bottles, the colors of his glass compositions explode on the scene - capturing the eye and sending it on a roller-coaster ride through the spectrum.

Sculpting Glass

Sculpting glass has its pros and cons. There are many good reasons to select glass as a material to sculpt, yet there are a few reasons why it isn't the most popular or commonly used.

First, glass isn't easy to work with. Molten glass is very elusive. It takes a great deal of skill to make an amorphous blob of hot glass retain a specific shape, not too mention one which has virtually every color of the rainbow in it, or a series of twisting/spiraling lines of gossamer threads interwoven by some mind-boggling process...This is due primarily because you cannot touch hot glass without getting severely burned.

It takes years of practice just to be good at glassblowing, and decades of service and hard-work to even come close to mastering the material. You gotta pay your dues, just like in professional sports or becoming a world-class musician...only a few get to be on top and make the megabucks, but you know that they have worked very hard at it each and every step of the way. Glassblowers also make it look so easy! They respond with a fluidity and familiarity within their movements so that there is little effort wasted and the results are nothing short of poetry in motion.

Second, it isn't easy to melt glass either. You need special equipment and tools(which cost in the thousands of dollars) to make glass molten. Often the equipment is very expensive to build. It is horrifically expensive to run and maintain, plus it has the added benefit of being highly flammable. Yet another reason you don't see hot shops on every street corner, it isn't cheap!

You don't have to melt glass in order to sculpt it. Many artists work with cold glass, cutting, grinding, polishing, and assembling it in variety of methods. Some artists mix their media (henceforth known as “Mixed Media”), combining glass with other materials in a multitude of fashions.

Education: The Final Word

There is no substitute for the direct experience of seeing sculpture in person. Get out of the house and down to the museum or your local gallery to see first hand what is out there. Ask yourself some questions (see Compare and Contrast Checklist). Try to come up with some answers on your own. Better yet, why not take a class in glassmaking?

Whatever method you choose in sculpting glass, you can expect an investment in time, energy and materials. It is wise to get as much instruction as you can tolerate or afford. Teachers and professional glass artists can save you an enormous amount of trial and error, and is well worth every penny you spend.

The rewards are numerous. You will encounter a community of like-mided individuals (they all share a fascination for glass) all coming from different backrounds and levels of education. The sharing of information brought about by the Studio Glass Movement is nothing short of extraordinary. The developments of the past thirty years have opened up the book of past secrets that have been locked shut to “outsiders” for centuries. glass continues to be transformed in ways that we could have only dreamed about decades earlier. The technological advances allow us to visualize and sculpt works of art second to none. I firmly believe that the golden age of glass is now. Enjoy it while you can. The first steps to becoming a part of this amazing movement is here and now, through your own determination, participation and education.