The Australian National University Institute of the Arts
Canberra School of Art GRADUATE DIPLOMA of ART
1992
CONTENTS
Proposal Previous Work Workreport The work
Curriculum Vitae Acknowledgements Bibliography
Objects shown in order of their making All dimensions in centimetres.
Work Proposal 1991
AIM
The aim of this period of postgraduate study is to develop and assimilate skills and ideas, using this time to search further into myself and the language of glass making, to make a more personal expression. The resulting h»ody of work will be a manifestation of the search the skills and the ideas.
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MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE
There co-exists with this pursuit of traditional skills and forms an insatiable joy and fascination of the process, traditional methods, tools and materials. It follows that my central pursuit will be hollow blown glass. 1 am essentially a vessel maker.
To simply list my repertoire of expanding skills and meth-ods is the easiest way of outlining the practical side of my proposal.
These are: glassblowing lathe cutting construction
grinding and polishing sand blasting
Skills other than detail of object making are focused on design or as my supervisor says skills of the head rather than skills of the hand.
REFERENCE POINTS, PEOPLE AND MANIFESTOS
DANTE MARIONI
Dante explains the visual success of his large blovsm glass vessels to "classical forms and contemporary colours". In June 19901 was lucky enough to be a student of Dantes in the Pilchuck Glass School; Seattle U.S.A. Of Dantes working practice I have not only assimilated his technique of blowing glass but also his philosophy or approach. He says, "its not so much Art Glass but the art of blowing glass." Dantes' commitment to technical skill, hard physical work as well as his understanding of form, colour, and the traditions of glass making inspires me no end.
HANS COPER
The forms of Coper are an obvious inspiration. Coper successfully integrates a number of simple forms such as cones, cylinders, spheres etc. into more complex and unique forms. Often if a successful formula of form, surface and colour was found Coper would make a number (up to a hundred of the one form), to explore the subtleties of the piece. In Coper's foundation of geometrical form, repetition of shapes and reference to classical /cycladic art his project is very similar to my intention.
MEMPHIS
My own search has taken on-board, from Memphis, their engagement with new materials. The brightly coloured opaque glass that many of my pieces are comprised of is not unlike plastic, plastic which is close to the lamina te of the subu rb, i.e. the no w world.
RESTRICTIONS \ LIMITATIONS \ PARAMETERS
The round is the centre of my practice, the round is 'truth' to the process and material. Design I believe is problem solving and working to a brief. As designer/maker this then is my brief, to work with in the parameters given by the process.
This restriction of the central axis is in on way a negative thing, this discipline is its strength. To make glass objects which are out of the round is to fight the process. There are alternatives to the round such as asymmetrical moulds, "hot working " solid glass, additions to the blown bubble ("hot bits") and probably more that I am yet to encounter.
DISCUSSION
There is a definite strength within a persons work when it is consistent and in some senses repetitive. The notion of the multiple is( as Peter Dormer writes in the essay The Ideal \Nor\d of Vermeer's Little Lacemaker), inherent and essential within the craft of glass making, only through repetiHon can there be the refinement of form and execution witch is the over all goal of this course of study. Within this same provocative essay Peter Dormer also posits the following observations,
T h e world of craft is a world of modest ideas with a straightforward, common-place vocabulary of familiarand functional forms which can beused purely decora tively.'
'...inherent modesty of craft is its strength'
I am not sure of all that he has to say, but I am willing to argue his case though example during my post graduate year here at Canberra School of the Arts.
PATTERN AND ORNAMENT
Jug and Bowl 1991
Vessel Shrine 1990 (Pilchuck Glass School USA) construted blown glass 60x15x15
13
Work Report
This year of my postgraduate study has been to consolidate a personal taste and direction in glassblowing which is in contrast to my eclectic education to date which has included glass making techniques from England, Scandinavia, America and Venice. This is significant because I see it as an emergence from a playground of technique to a forum for reflection, consideration and focus.
I have found this to be the most productive year in my glassblowing career and my experimentation has ranged from finely made, lyrical goblets to sturdy, rural looking flagons and bottles. 1 have been using technique not merely as a showcase in itself but as a means to an end whereby the series of work that 1 choose not to pursue is an essential step along the way rather than a dead end.
STARTING POINTS
There are modernist tradi tions of the 'organic' style of form which are just as strong as traditions of the hard edged or geometrical style. However, my personal dilemma with this organic tradition is tha t we are still too close to the 'mis-shapen bubble' or organic free blown glass of the eCXs and 70's. There are associations that I don't want to make with handicraft and rural back-to-the-earth pottery for example. Asymmetrical and geometri-cal design ,along with a flawless execu tion demonstra tes and emphasis a technigeometri-cal control (and the aesthetic considerations which follow from this), within a market place which is rife with mis-shapen bubbles and happy accidents.
" Cane" inv«rUhly means asuUJ st'ick of Glass ; and " tube," liullow.
The second element or concern was my desire to express an optimism and humour with which I personally face the world. In some of my earlier work from my first degree I had used incongruous elementson functional forms for a humorous effect. It became apparent to me that I couldn't rely on this device forever to
DESIGN BASED ON AN UNDERLYING GEOMETRY
My starting point was to make pieces which were composed of simple geometric shapes - spheres and cones. These pieces shine for elegance, possibly because they are so restrained. In reaction to these simple forms I moved onto my first significant body or series of work. They were large colourful flagons which were awkward and inelegant to look at and technically difficult to make. Looking back at that work I see it as a turning point in many ways. They were, in their inelegance, undermining most of the techniques and forms I had been working towards until then. They were accessible because they alluded to a very utilitarian object-a drinking flagon. They were very idiosyncratic and this was a positive step for me to spend time and effort on work which I would previously have considered too whimsical.
AN AUSTRALIAN AESTHETIC?
I soon found myself ina trapofmakingquiteacademic explorations of texturesand colours which weren't spontaneous but rather largely dictated by what I thought other people might consider 'Australian' aesthetic.
This realisation proved to be the catalyst for my present working frame of mind which is to make what I want to make to prevent the work becoming to dry or academic. This was the only way, I thought, that any work of true integrity would emerge. Whether the work could be said to be of an 'Austral ian' aesthetic or d istincti vely 'my work' remains to be seen. The yardstick that I have come to work by is to make work that excites me.
YOSHITAKAHASHI
In Second Semester Yoshihiko Takahashi, a glassblower from Japan, came to Canberra in the capacity of guest lecturer and artist in residence. His five week stay was a punctuation in my year as his experience, skills and even keeled manner never ceased to inspire me. His time here, for me, was the most intense period of questioning the direction my work was taking, and its overall context since I enrolled in the postgraduate program. I worked through ideas of form and pattern through sketching, talking with Yoshi and making work.
At this time my 'search for form' did take a back seat to an exploration of pattern. Yoshi's own work is heavily patterned and previous to his arrival 1 had been experiment-ing with surface and patterns through the use of wheel grindexperiment-ing. Technically Yoshi's work is achieved through a system of masking and sandblasting. At first I took the opportunity to continue my experiments with pattern through a fresh technique of sandblasting. However my work from this time is among the least successful for the year. What I had been working towards with the wheel grinding was an abstract reference to the landscape which was one effort of working towards an 'Australian' style. The work which was sandblasted used a system of ornamentation which had some reference to natural forms but also embraced the abstract geometry of the design movement Mem-phis.
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MEMPHIS
PATTERN AND ORNAMENTATION
However I am wary of surrounding ourselves with objects of hollowness and superficial value. My exploration of cut and patterned glass was an attempt to create pieces of functional glass that were rich in association to the natural world. This reference to nature, whether it be a geographical reference or the bark of a tree, was one manifes-tation of the thought that the landscape is the distinguishing factor of the Australian experience which bears upon our art and craft.
GOBLET MAKING
XXXX VESSEL SERIES
I have called my present series of work the 'xxxx' vessel series. I'm working with simple geometric forms and unmixed colours and in this way I am attempting to make vessels which move away from instantly recognisable parentage - the no r\ame, generic implication.
There are several things I am exploring and emphasising with this series of work. Firstly the scale of these pieces is the largest I have managed to make to date. If they are considered in a domestic context then they seem very large indeed, however I often think about them in terms of the space they will be exhibited in rather than their final destinations.
Secondly 1 have made these vessels with the idea that they can be seen in groups rather than individually because the idea of a 'family' of vessels and the complex composition that can be arranged appeals to me.
There is a great deal of drawing and designing that goes on before I start to blow the elements so they can be assembled. Often these designs will be followed through and sometimes new designs emerge as different elements sit about my desk.
DESIGN AND EXECUTION
Yoshi stressed the importance of making what you draw rather than just blowing forms that came to the pipe, or came to my mind I found this method of working helped my efficiency and resolution of pieces.
In this way of assembling the pieces and using colours which are joyful and eye-catching I think the work has a feeling of subtle gaiety and joy without the heavy-handedness of some of my previous work. This work was the progression I had not consciously worked towards and it has been a pleasant surprise for me to see how my ideas have refined to produce work of a much quieter, but hopefully, stronger nature.
When I blow glass what is utmost in my mind is the silhouette or profile of what I want before 1 begin. There is too things happening ,I would explain one as the 'What '1 am nnaking, and the second as 'how 'I make something (design and execution). The 'whaf includes sketching and thinking, but there is also a physical intelligence, a knowledge which has come to me over my limited expterience of what I Cfl« make. I know the material well enough, and my skills well enough to know what the parameters are.
There is a routine to glassmaking like many other crafts, a routine of preparation and cleaning - the tools and working surfaces must be clean so that there is every chance that the work will be successful. If the piece is marked or scratched, has bubbles or is on a lean then it is clearly a 'second', a reject to be put down to experience.
This hour or so of preparation is time to get into a mental state that is going to allow the day to happen. You have to be clear about both the final piece of glass and the total process to that piece. One of the most significant work practices that has been impressed upon me by Dante Marioni was to 'visualise process'. There are of course variables such as the exact taper to a cone or whether the base of a given piece is 5cms wide or 6cms wide, but basically there is intention and then making. Work which is made with little intention and no discipline or control is in the end devoid of all integrity.
and in the end extremely satisfying. This exertion is made easier by experience and most importantly a good team.
THE TEAM
Z l e v a t i c n of tho fiirDnres. an'l u.Uri'jr v>"»/ c f the OlaGG-hsUEO and tvcrkiDj operatiocs.
I was excited upon joining the workshop here at Canberra because I realised that there would be the opportunity to work with a number of glassblowers of equal if not greater skills than my own. The school makes this possible where the economics of paying a number of people in the 'real world' to work on one piece is not feasible. Working with a number of skilled and experienced people makes possible the making of complex pieces as a number of elements can be created simultaneously and then bought together by the gaffer.* Likewise a team can make possible a large piece by sharing the weight of the glass at different stages.
A consequence of working in the team is that less experienced students have opportunities to be exposed to techniques and physical knowledge. Working with someone as an assistant is often the first step into understanding the rhythm, timing and limits of this difficult medium.
Often the pressure to consider and design what I am making is too much - to make other peoples work has always been a great thrill for me. I have had infrequent, but significant, opportunities to work for people in the capacity of gaffer, that is to blow objects of there design, and have found them to be a source of challenge and reward.
CONCLUSION
I have in the end created a body of work which is an expression of my idiosyncra-sies, humour and craft skills. The willingness to put time into pieces that are 'quirk/ or seemingly incongruous has perhaps moved me closer to a "personalised form language", the over-all goal of my course of study. However, for all the refinements of style and technique the work, as always, is only a beginning.
Untitled : Stoppered Bottles and Vase
These were the results of my first experiments with a more formal approach to design. The body of the bottles were made by fine Italian style cane work. The cones were blown and then later ground and polished so that they have a hard edge finish rather than a free blown look. The rubber ' C rings work well on a number of levels. They have a sharp line, the black works well as a contrast to the lines of colour and they contribute a different surface texture which is harmonious with both the glossy look of the bottles and the satin look of the cones.
Untitled: Goblets 1991
blown glass 1 6 x 8 x 8
Flagons 1991
Untitled, Vessels 1991
Untitled, Vessels 1991
CURRICULUM VITAE
BENJAMIN EDOLS Bom Sydney, NSW 1967
EDUCATION
1992 Postgraduate Diploma of Art Canberra School of art
Workshop Head , Klaus Moje 1991 Bachelor of Arts (Visual)
Sydney College of the Arts
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE 1990 Assistant to Dante Marioni,
Seattle U.S.A
1990 Assistant to Robert Levin North Caroline U.S.A.
1987/1990 Assistant to Robert Wynne Denizen Glass,Sydney
WORKSHOPS
1991 AUSGLASS introduction to glassblowing with Scott Chaseling
Sydney Collage of the arts 1990 Sunbeanrt glass ^NewZealand
1990 Pilchuck Glass School ,U.S.A
Dante Marioni,Goblet&Vessel making 1990 Penland Craft School,U.S.A
Richard Ritter,Murrini
GROUP EXHITIONS
1991 Wth Australian Glass Triennial Wagga Wagga City Gallery,N.S.W First National Student Show
Melbourne Exhibition Centre 1990 'Fifteen Minutes of Fame'
Two person show with Phillipa Playford Glass Artists Gallery,Sydney
1989 more glass than class
graduating glass students,S C.A Glass Artists Glallery,Sydney
'Daphne Zeros Picnic' graduating students, S.C.A Pier 13 ,Sydney
AWARDS
ACKNOWLED GMENTS
I would like to thank those staff and students for making this productive year possible.
My mentor and supervisor Klaus Moje.
Staff here at the school Nigel Lendon, Elizabeth McClure, Anne Brennan and Ingo Kleinhart for there support and guidance.
Credits for photography go to Matt Kelso and Richard Pedvin.
To my colleagues Kathy Elliott, Yoshi Takahshi, Debby Jones, Fiona Taylor, Tom Moore and Mikaela Brown.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thackara, John (ed) Desien After Modernism. 1988,Germany
Berman, Marshall All That is Solid Melts into Air.1982. Simon and Schuster,
New York
Sottsass,Ettore
Radice,Barbara
Branzi,Andrca
SO's Style.Designs of the Decade. Thames and Hudson,1990
Memphis. Rizzoli International, New York, 1984
The Hot Housedtalian New Wave Design). Thames and Hudson,1984
Memphis 1981-1988 Groninger Museum,Como Sud, Milano,1988
Forty,Adrian Objects of Desire(Design and Society 1750-1980). Thames and Hudson,Great Britian,1986
