NMS show set to shatter some myths about glass
Four Scotland-based artists contributing to new show Art of Glass at the National Museum of Scotland talk to Angela Wild about how they respond to the medium
Glass is as versatile an artistic medium as it is beautiful, but we often think of it as a material for creating functional objects. Artists in Britain are at the forefront of a movement to challenge this perception, embracing glass in innovative ways and pushing the boundaries of techniques.
A new exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland will examine the diverse work of 15 established and emerging glass artists in Britain today. Opening on Friday, Art of Glass – which is presented in partnership with The National Centre for Craft & Design – features groundbreaking works utilising everything from neon to stained glass.
Since the Studio Glass Movement of the 1960s, Britain has had a significant impact on how glass is perceived as an art form. Both national and international glass artists have increasingly based themselves here, drawn to the teaching and world-renowned facilities on offer. They are working with glass in a variety of ways, whether manipulating it in a hot glass studio, casting it in a kiln or using new technologies such as waterjet cutting and 3D printing.
The artists featured in Art of Glass are based around the UK, working from both isolated rural studios and busy urban locations. Among them are four Scotland-based artists, whose works are pushing the medium of glass to its physical and artistic limits.
Geoffrey Mann
The glass programme director at the Edinburgh College of Art, Geoffrey Mann was one of the first glass artists in the UK to introduce digital technology into his practice. For Art of Glass, he has created The Leith Pattern, which explores the myth that the archetypal wine bottle originated in Leith.
“This was something I thought I’d heard, a sort of an urban myth,” says Mann. He worked with a historian to research the story, before interviewing Leithers themselves on the subject. Soundwaves from those recorded interviews were used to create a “living” bottle that resonates with human stories.
“I was interested in how the people of an area make a place, not things like factories or shops,” he says. “I wanted to look at how I could take a person’s story and embody that within the object. I use digital tools as a way to see things that are above and beyond our own reality. I can’t see or touch motion or soundwaves, but I can create physical artefacts which represent them.”
There are many steps on the journey to creating the finished piece, including animation, 3D printing and kiln casting. The end result is a moment frozen in time; rippling sound waves and a rigid, traditional bottle mashed together. “The object has potential energy built into its form,” says Mann. “It looks like it’s actually trying to move.”
“Melting things appealed to me more than painting”