Bacon pizza and a cheeseburger goblet: John Miller at 2300°

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

At November’s 2300°: Americana, glass artist John Miller turned the Hot Glass Innovation Stage into a glass kitchen, crafting a goblet with a cheeseburger stem and a slice of hot glass pizza. I asked him about the experience and more about his work.

You’ve been to The Corning Museum of Glass before, right John?

The first time I came to the Museum was in 1994 and the Libenský/Brychtová show was up and it completely blew me away. I was just driving through town as a student. And I came to the Glass Art Society conference in 2000 and was asked to come back and teach at The Studio the following summer. Visiting the Museum gives me enough inspiration to last a year; till the next time I come back and then I can revitalize myself at the Library and everything.

Tell me about what you worked on at 2300° tonight

This evening we did a cheeseburger goblet, Venetian style, that we stuck all together hot. I think it was about 12 lbs. And then we did a slice of pepperoni and bacon pizza.

I have to ask – why bacon?

Everything has to be decadent. The work that I make; it can’t be good for you; even the lettuce kills me to put it on, when I’m putting it on the cheeseburger. So it had to be the meat lovers special, no green peppers or anything good like that –pineapple? No way. Has to be old-school American, diner style, everything has to be bad for you.

The cheeseburger goblet

Diner style is kind of your thing

When I was 5 or 6, I used to go a drive-in diner all the time with my father and it really became part of my personality and my upbringing. When I started making more sculptural work, I started to sketch crinkle-cut fries on napkins everywhere I went and I knew I had to make the work at some point. And it really just exploded. And, it’s a little bit of social commentary on the Route 66 Americana thing. I really embraced that and the whole hot rod scene and the 50’s scene is part of the whole thing.

Why is glass your medium for interpreting those cultures?

It was something, in the beginning, that was a challenge for me – just to try to be proficient. And then I started realizing with the sculptural work that I could freeze gesture and also use the color palette that glass offers in different ways than paint, ceramics, or print making offers. It’s just a way I can really replicate surfaces. Sandblast surfaces to soften them – like bread. And leave them shiny – like grease – on bacon and burgers and things like that. It’s a really versatile material for me and it’s really fun to work with.

When did you get started in glass?

I got started in 1987 at Southern Connecticut State University, and it was just a mistake. I walked into the glass studio because Bill Gudenrath was doing a demonstration. I had no idea who he was. I walked in and was blown away. I signed up for beginning glassblowing classes the next semester, and that was that; it was over.

And now you’re teaching at The Studio. You have a class this week.

It’s a very short three-day intensive class with six students. I’m going to scale everything down a little bit and what I’m going to concentrate on is the one-on-one. I’m going to let the students get used to the shop and then examine how they work with the material and then find out what they want to make and then help them execute that by demonstrations – it will be exciting.

John Miller with Marlo Cronquist during his three-day workshop. Photo provided by Marlo Cronquist.

Tell me more about tonight

People were pretty happy. You know, feed them some food and a few drinks and put them in front of some glassblowing and that is that. They love it. But they were yelling and screaming and clapping and we were throwing t-shirts out. I think it went well.

Did anything unexpected happen this evening?

Sure, we were taking off the cheeseburger goblet and it fell apart in our hands. We put it back in the kiln and it stuck back together. It happens – at least it didn’t hit the floor, but that’s more dramatic anyways! But everything else went nice and smoothly. It’s a beautiful shop, great assistants, and just a wonderful place to be in general.

Is there anything else you want to share with us?

I like to eat cappuccino beans on my cereal. Chocolate covered.

More glass from the workshop – an over-sized soda glass, key and doughnut. Photo provided by Marlo Cronquist.

See more photos from John’s 2300° show on Flickr: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCS9Ne1

Artist Christopher Lydon inspired by B.B. King’s Lucille at 2300°: Blues

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

Philadelphia-based artist Christopher Lydon makes organically inspired sculptural and vessel forms as well as works with intense color contrasts that reference street art and anime. At the March 2300°: Blues, Lydon was inspired by the theme of that night’s event – the blues, and special guest Tony Coleman, drummer for the legendary American blues guitarist B.B. King.

For his Hot Glass Show demonstration, Lydon challenged himself to sculpt something fun and recognizable to the audience, all within the two hour time limit of the event. Working closely with his team of glassblowers, he created a glass guitar modeled on B.B. King’s signature Lucille. See the demonstration and hear from Lydon on how he’s progressed as an artist and the importance of working with a good team.

See more photos of Christopher and the band Howling Waters at 2300°: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzroaZ6

A Ten Year 2300° Tradition

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mandy Kritzeck

Jim Hess and his sister Sharon Aumick at February’s 2300°: Mardi Gras Snow Day

There’s a good chance that if you’re at 2300° tonight, you’ll see Jim Hess and Sharon Aumick. In fact, the brother and sister have not missed a 2300° event for the past ten years. They enjoy getting together; he drives down from Buffalo, and she’s in Addison, so it’s a nice chance to catch up. They bring other family when they can make it, and Sharon gets to meet up with fellow retired teachers. But what keeps them coming back year after year, they say, is the Hot Glass Show. Sharon says, “We love it! We like seeing the different artists.” From Anne Gant’s pyrographies to Paul Stankard’s paperweights, they’ve seen a mix of glassmaking techniques at demonstrations by both local gaffers and visiting glass artists.

This month, we’re sure they’ll be at the Hot Glass Show watching Philadelphia-based artist Christopher Lydon make organically inspired sculptural and vessel forms with intense color contrasts.

2300°: Blues is tonight, Thursday March 15 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Visit http://www.cmog.org/event/2300-blues for more information.

See you there, Jim and Sharon!

Flanked by a material

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Corning Museum of Glass

by DH McNabb

There is light. It exudes from the lamp; shadows and reflections are cast upon the wall. My eyes follow a blinking line, a cursor. We have to name everything. In making all things definitive what is left to define?

The cursor blinks, my eyes glance through a material, my reflection is faint upon a screen. A transdimensional occurrence is evident, the threshold between me and the blinking is proof. The screen is flat and still except for the cursor and the words that follow. My hands rummage at the bottom, scurrying to portray this as a cohesive thought.

Making is about transference, from my eyes, to my brain and then executed through my hands. I am a glassmaker so it’s not just about my eyes and brain and hands but those who collaborate with me, those I work for or with.

Glass is a communicative endeavor, a struggle. It’s not something you get in a year or five or ten. It is about being an ambassador and a translator for a material. The process of conveying and informing others through the making of glass things is at the forefront of a practice. Action as statement, object as question. What are these transferences?

Material integrity: it’s not about what one can make but what one can expose.

I reach for a glass. It doesn’t matter if it is half full or half empty, I made it. Beer is fresher in the glass, the pouring from keg, pitcher, can or bottle releases the flavor. The frothy head floats, the bubbles too. A liquid suspended in a liquid.

I, you, we live in a Glass Age. A reflective world where mirrors are not always present but a lens might be. We have a necessity to communication, the interface is the material – think about the internet, think of your phone, think outside and through the window, be aware of the light that is on and above you.

CMOG-

For the 2300° at the Corning Museum of Glass I wanted to produce pieces that utilized the space. Corning has a unique feature with the fused silica window in the glory hole, or reheating chamber. The video camera that peers in through the window allows a view into this usually secluded space. Thus rendering the happenings of the glory hole’s 2300 degree environment to the public through the use of overhead projection. By melting and cooking batch, the raw state of glass, and then making a small vessel out of it I am able to freeze and exhibit the process that yields the clear material that we are accustomed to. Next I folded an airplane out of sheet glass, this shows the transferences of one material to another, paper to glass. It is also reminiscent for me of learning to fold paper airplanes from my father on the air base he worked on when I was a kid. Next I slumped a goblet that I made to show the slumping process. This was witnessed by the audience through the use of the glory hole camera. The cups contorting and flattening out was rendered observable. Lastly, I made a cone and dipped fresh molten glass on it in order to show the materials rigid and organic capacity.

I greatly appreciated the help and support I received during this demonstration. The most important thing I hope people can take home from this or any glass demonstration is that glass is a collaborative medium and a material that is essential to our everyday lives.

See more photos of DH at 2300°: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwRGzLT

Katherine Gray: Forest Glass and 2300

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Yvette Sterbenk

Katherine Gray is the artist of Forest Glass, one of the Museum’s new sculptures in the recently reinstalled Contemporary Glass Gallery. Forest Glass consists of three “trees” made of everyday drinking glasses stacked on Plexiglas shelves with steel supports. The glasses are arranged on the shelves by color to form the outline of a simplified tree with green leaves and a brown trunk.

As she demonstrates in this video (shot of her Hot Glass Show appearance at the March 2300), she is a skilled glassblower who could have made the components of Forest Glass herself. Instead she chose to use only found or “pre-existing” glasses that she bought at thrift stores (both locally and in LA, where she lives and works) and on eBay - to make us think about the destruction that is inherent in the process of creation.

Therman Statom at 2300 Degrees

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Yvette Sterbenk

Artist Therman Statom demonstrated at February 2300 Degrees, the Museum’s popular free evening event (which takes place on the third Thursday of each month from November through March). Here he talks about his demonstration, about his work in general, and about working with the Museum’s young, emerging glass artists.

An outstanding mixed media artists and one of the early artists working in American Studio Glass, Statom has work represented in the Museum’s collection. He generally creates large-scale sculptural installations; one of these installations graces the local Corning Incorporated headquarters.

Video by Jordan Miller.

Peace, Love and 2300 Degrees

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Yvette Sterbenk

Steve Gibbs, the Museum’s Hot Glass Programs manager, and the creative mastermind behind the Museum’s popular 2300 Degrees events, demonstrated his own glassworking artistry at the December 2010 event. Here he talks about 2300 Degrees and about the work he created during the event. Film by Jordan Miller.

In the Sound Booth

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Yvette Sterbenk

We turned our little Flip video camera on our Audio Visual Coordinator, Scott Ignaszewski, to learn more about how he creates and manages the spectacular visual effects at our popular, free 2300° events. (We hope he’ll forgive us that our video isn’t quite as impressive as his!).

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