M a cc h ia
photo: Scott M. Leen /
B u bb le IV ra p
photo: James Beards
zoom
T h e B
i g Q u e s t i o n s w
i t h G l e n n A d a m
s o n
T h e D o w
n s i d e o
f S u c c e s s
o f th e 1960s g iv in g w a y to
the m ore tech n ica lly so p h isti-
cated b u t also m ore com m er-
cia lly orien ted 1980s. T h a t
h appen ed in oth er m edium s,
to o , bu t glass prices sh o t up
faster and h igh er b y far. I f yo u
g o to S O F A or an oth er b ig
com m ercial cra ft e v e n t th ese
d ays, y o u ’ll see glass d om in at-
in g th e p ro ceed in gs, m uch o f
it aim ed at the co llecto r and
d ecorator m arket.
L o o k in g at con tem p o rary
stud io glass, I am o fte n rem in d -
ed o f a teen ager d rivin g th e fa m -
ily car w a y to o fa st and b u y in g
e x p e n siv e cloth es th at d on ’t
q uite fit. T h e ride is a thrill, and
th ere’s no d ou b tin g the q u ality
o f m uch o f th e w o rkm an sh ip .
B u t w h e th e r it am ounts to a
serious art m o ve m en t is another
sto ry. T h e ra p id ly e xp a n d in g
m arket, w ith C h ih u ly at its ce n -
ter, has b e e n bu ilt on m aterial
m atters - d a zzlin g co lo r, trans-
lu ce n cy , d ared evil tech n iq u e,
and the spectacle o f the h ot-shop
dem o. T h is has turn ed the field
in w ard. Its in n ovation s h ave
ten d ed to be p u rely aesth etic,
as i f th e m edium w e r e trapped
in a m odernist era in w h ich form
and b e a u ty are all th at count.
A s these com m en ts suggest,
I h ave n eve r been a critical
supporter o f th e glass scen e,
S t u d io g la s s i n t h e U n i t e d
M
M S t a t e s i s j u s t 5 0 y e a r s o ld ,
b u t i t h a s a s c e n d e d i n t h e
•
m a r k e tp la c e q u ic k ly .
M a n y g la s s w o r k s c o m m a n d t h o u -
s a n d s ( o r t e n s o f t h o u s a n d s ) o f
d o lla r s , m u c h h ig h e r p r i c e s th a n
m o s t o b je c t s i n o t h e r m e d iu m s . T e t
g la s s a r t is t s s t r u g g le to w i n w i d e -
s p r e a d c r i t i c a l a p p r o v a l. H o w d o
y o u a c c o u n t f o r t h e m e d iu m ’s c o m -
p l e x p o s i t io n i n t h e c r a f t w o r ld ?
T h e r e ’s a shorthand
an sw er to this line
o f q uestionin g: D ale
C h ih u ly. It’s hard to th in k o f
an oth er artist w h o ’s had sim ilar
im p act in a sin gle cra ft m edium ,
at least sin ce P e te r V o u lk o s
in stigated the 1950s c la y re vo lu -
tion . T h e d ifferen ce is that C h i-
h u ly has b een e ffe c tiv e on e v e r y
fron t: n o t o n ly fo rgin g a d istin c-
tiv e sty le (as V o u lk o s did ) and
in spirin g an arm y o f fo llo w e rs
(as V o u lk o s also did, through
his tea ch in g), b u t also reshaping
th e m arket fo r glass and e stab -
lish in g an in frastructure for its
pro d u ctio n and pro m o tion .
C o rn in g M u seu m o f G lass
curator T in a O ld k n o w tells the
sto ry b e a u tifu lly in h er b o o k on
P ilch u ck G lass S ch oo l, the influ-
ential glass center C h ih u ly found-
ed near Seattle. It’s essentially the
tale o f the craft cou n tercu ltu re
as I have for other craft medium s.
O n e reason is m y in stin ctive
ten d en cy to ba ck the underdog.
A g lo ss y success sto ry is, to
m e at least, a b it o f a tu rn off.
I also d on ’t like th e w a y that
glass supporters con sciou sly (if
e ffe c tiv e ly , I m ust adm it) lo b b y
m useum s to represen t the m ed i-
um . T h e y ’re free to do so, o f
course, b u t as a curator I prefer
to d raw m y o w n conclusions.
Ju st re c e n tly , h o w e v e r , I
h ave begu n to chan ge m y tune.
In a fe w m onths I ’ll be speakin g
to the G lass A r t S o c ie ty fo r the
first tim e, on the occasio n o f the
stud io glass m o v e m e n t’s 50th
an n iversary. It w as in 1962 that
the first exp erim en tal w o r k -
shops w e re h eld in T o le d o ,
O h io . W ith help from in d u stry,
D o m in ic k L a b in o and H a r v e y
L ittle to n m an aged to p u t the
tools o f gla ssb lo w in g in to the
hands o f artists. [E d ito r’s n ote:
S ee p age 42.] T h e first results
w e r e n ’t im p ressive tech n ically,
b u t th o se early blob s w e r e the
start o f so m eth in g filled w ith
exu b eran ce and po ssib ility.
T o d a y , I sense that glass art-
ists are ab an d on in g the b e a u ty
co n test and re d isco verin g that
sense o f un form ed p o ssib ility.
T h e r e h ave alw ays b een a
fe w - m an y o f th em w o rk in g
abroad - w h o resisted the allure
o f p e r fe c tly m ade baubles, bu t
Left:
Dale Chihuly
N o rse B lu e M a cch ia w ith
C h eer T ello w L ip W ra p ,
2001; glass
1.6 x 2.6 x 1.8 ft.
Bottom left:
Chris Taylor
B u b b le W ra p ,
2010; glass
2.3 x4x 1.5 ft.
it’s in creasin gly O K to m ake
o b jects th at la ck im m ediate
visu al appeal. Y o u n g artists
w o rk in g in th e m edium , such
as C h ris T a y lo r , A n d y P a ik o ,
G ae a T o d d , and P ern ille B raun,
h ave begu n to launch c o m p el-
lin g co n cep tu a l and gestural
in vestigatio n s. T h e r e are also a
h an dful o f estab lish ed figures
w o rk in g w ith glass, m ost p ro m -
in e n tly F re d W ilso n , Josiah
M c E lh e n y , and B eth L ip m a n ,
w h o h ave g o tte n th e broader art
w o rld to sit up and take n otice.
It’s n o t th at such ap p roval is all
th at m atters, bu t e v e r y field o f
e n d e avo r n eed s the b road est
possible range o f exp ression
and in q u iry to rem ain vib ran t.
S o glass art’s lo n g -e sta b -
lish ed aesth etic brillian ce is
n o w b e in g m atch ed b y great
ideas. T h is m eans it’s tim e for
p e o p le like m e to p a y closer
atten tio n . G lass has lo n g been
co m m ercially su ccessfu l but
critica lly suspect. I f artists can
sto p th em selves from cashin g in
on th e m ed iu m ’s easy pleasures,
th o u gh , th e y ’ll p ro v e th at the
tw o aren’t m u tu ally e xclu sive.
G o t a q u e s t io n ? E m a i l T h e B ig Q @
c r a f t c o u n c il.o r g . G le n n A d a m s o n
i s h e a d o f g r a d u a t e s t u d ie s a t t h e
V ic t o r i a a n d A l b e r t M u s e u m , L o n -
d o n , a n d c o - e d it o r o f t h e
Journal
o f M o d e rn C ra ft.
feb/mari2 american craft 019
