2006 fall

Instructor: Jonathan Teppeman

class overview

Blow-slot schedule

Assignments and demos

• 2006.09.13 Assignment 1: a bell is a cup until it is struck ...
  • "With this project, you will begin to enforce the fact that, despite the challenge and the spell of seductiveness and immediacy that molten glass casts over those with whom it dances, you are working to become it’s master…not the other way around. Sure, that’s melodramatic, but it is also true … ask Bruce Nauman.
    • So, with that in mind, we are going to take on an intentional duality of function. The title of this project is an example. The premise is this…choose an object that you know and love and give it another life by transforming it into another, with another purpose. In class you will run through potential candidates…in the studio you will create the new object, or an inventive combination of both objects. Your process involves more than just making. Spend some time considering the strengths and weakness of the correlation between old object A and new object B. Don’t jump on your very first idea…give yourself the credit to think it through before you put your time and energy into making the thing and presenting it to others.
    • You must begin with sketches, not make them afterwards. Got it? Start by sketching the object as it exists, and show (through successive sketches) the metamorphosis of that object ending in a new and surprising form (in a final sketch.) Here is where you can first demonstrate the poetry between your objects, or maintain the connections between the two.
    • Now, about the technical concerns. Since you made sketches prior to starting, you have identified those things you know how to do, those you have no idea and those you think may be done a certain way. This is good, it’s called ideation and troubleshooting. Let your sketches serve as blueprints, and rework them if necessary. Invent the techniques you have yet to learn, and come in and watch others working."
    • Timeline:
      • 2006.09.13: begin sketching immediately
      • 2006.09.18: show sketches in class
      • 2006.10.04: project due/critique
• 2006.10.11 Assignment 2: Points of Contact
  • "Create a glass object, or series of objects, focusing your attention on the points where the body meets its surroundings, where the object contacts its environment.
  • Think about how humans inhabit rooms, use objects and touch their surroundings. Think of 'points of contact' literally, as well as metaphorically.
  • Some objects we may feel are extensions of ourselves and some may feel distant. Others are so daily and mundane that we overlook them completely. When a person holds a glass of water, the hand meets the glass. This point of contact is actually composed of several points of contact: the thumb, fingers, part of the palm, etc. These points have a lot of information that can be made visible in a drawing, and in an object These creations can show moisture, slight bulges and/or indentations, transparency, reflection, influence tension on certain hand muscles supporting the weight of the glass and the water, etc.
  • • Will your object exist in an interior or exterior space?
    • Is the object aware of its environment? Interacting with it?
    • What is the point of view of the object? What point of view will you give your viewers?
    • Are objects touching each other? Almost? Never? Is this interaction possible or is it impossible?
    • What ideals are being expressed?
    • Is there tension? Action? Stillness?
    • Consider final placement, lighting, spatial relationships, and most of all, the subtle areas where your object meets its surrounding.
    • How does it rest? Does it?
    • Timeline: 2006.11.06: project due/critique