The main building of the Crystalex, Novy Bor
9th International Glass Symposium 2006
Meeting for breakfast in the hotel restaurant is a most civilized way to greet one another. Catching up with old friends and putting faces to names is how we drew that lazy morning away. Unbeknownst to us - as for the majority, this was our first time - it was the calm before the storm. 'We' I should clarify is an assemblage of 33 international artists, chosen by the Artistic Director Professor Sylva Petrova, congregating in Novy Bor, Czech Republic for the 9th International Glass Symposium (I.G.S.) to carry on this historical event that has the first symposium going back to 1982.
A time when travel into, and especially out of, the country was extremely difficult. Past invited artists include names that are now living legends in Europe, Japan, America and Australia. I still recall the stories told by Klaus Moje and his entertaining recollections of the symposium back then. What now replaces the Velvet Revolution is the velvet fog that blankets us as we tramp along the road the following morning, our path lighted by street lamps at 5:30am and our hearts beating in anticipation. The revolution was changed for a revelation, as it soon became clear we had only 3 days to create at least one finished object that would be exhibited on the last day and then sit alongside works from the previous eight symposiums. We were not to be outdone!
This being the 9th Symposium, held every third year, it had survived the socialist regime and the political games played on invited artists: American glass artist Dale Chihuly's censorship from exhibiting at the Musaion Building during the 3rd Symposium comes to mind, and now the symposium must survive the financial challenges set by the Czech Republic joining the European Union and commercial competition from Asia. The IGS is sponsored by the Crystalex Glass Factory, which offers up all its departments to those attending. There were some of us who had teams of men perform on a factory platform blowing glass, whilst others took advantage of the master cutters and grinder with a tradition of Bohemian cut crystal going back centuries. There were others who asked for the skill of the painters, who with one freehand brushstroke could draw a perfect circle or a baroque frieze in an instant. We would not call these people our assistants as I feel this is to demean their status as we were very fortunate to have these master craftsmen/women attend to our wishes. Three Australians were invited, Stanislav Melis and Zoja Tromifuik both of Czech/Slovak origin and myself, along with a palette of artists from the UK, Europe, USA and South Korea. The group was balanced out with a strong representation of Czech artists ranging from the young emerging stars to those masters who have pushed the traditional aesthetics of glass long before Australians knew anything about a studio art glass movement.
A number of the Czech artists had attended this symposium over the years past and therefore had some valuable local knowledge. The preparation prior to the event was important; for wooden moulds could be turned up on a lathe (I saw them range in size from goblet bowls to 44 gallon drums) or glass components manufactured earlier to ease the emergency of the three days allowance. Communicating through drawings and attentive translators we started the first day off giving our requests to the Gaffer (the leading glassblower) then standing back to watch the team go into motion.
As this group of international artists are recognized for their artworks that were constructed over decades of research and development it felt as though we were now detached from our limbs and watched helplessly as others made the work for us. We wanted to jump in and touch this glowing orange goop of hot glass. In a way it felt as if our children were leaving home. The blown pieces were placed in a tunnel annealer, where the conveyor belt takes the glass through the cooling process and out the handling end in a matter of 4 hours. This is of course suitable for the mould blown thin clear glass that it operates for, though it raised a few eyebrows and nervous laughs as the artists requested colour overlays and 3 centimetre thick glass walls. Pushing the medium at this stage was only the beginning. Once we had claimed our glass from their storage bins it was off to another department to find ourselves the next challenge. For many the tops had to be cut off by a diamond saw so the lips of their vessels could be polished up. Knowing their short history in annealing we stood back and watched in trepidation as the cutting began and prayed that all that would be cut off was glass and not the fingers of our trusty master. I loved to walk around this factory as the labyrinth of corridors always opened to new fascinations, revealing not only a history of skill but also new applications used by industry though rarely touched by artists. I was drawn to a door that around its jams seeped the odour of enamels being fired.
As I gazed over and through the threshold the room looked more like Aladdin's cave than a painting studio, as for every where I looked there was gold. Gold enamelled goblets, gold candle sticks and triumphant gold vases, large enough to hold a garden of flowers. The decorating did not stop there, as on top of the gold were friezes of enamel flowers that stood 3mm in relief, a specialty to this area. The market for this type of glass work was found in Russia and must be a very healthy commercial relationship as these golden bouquets were to be found throughout the factory. So much skill, so much history, so much kitsch it was heaven! Another area of fascination was the cold working studios, were I saw the cutting of leaf forms on a goblet bowl that kept me entertained for more time than I had to spare. The hand guided a diamond wheel which cut along the bowl in the most fluid action and perfectly similar to the last 1000 lines made. As I watched, I recalled reading of the Japanese craftsman¿s search for perfection through throwing one thousand ceramic tea cups aiming to find one with wabi sabi. Here it was hard to find a fault with the skill, though it was equally hard to find a piece with a soul. I reminded myself that this was a factory making a product and this line cutting was a daily practice more likely endured than made with passion. It was here I felt uneasy as I could see this deep, deep pond of skill and yet the water had nowhere to flow. There more a sense of it stagnating. I thought if I could have one wish come true it would be to utilize this wealth of knowledge in my own works. Now into the third day the group was finally finding their feet and yet we also knew this was our last 24 hours.
The days have been long, and yes the nights also! The hosts have been entertaining us with an opening ceremony and then less than 48 hours later a closing party. Squeezed in between this was the opening of the new Aejeto Glass studio and school in Novy Bor, run by Petr Novotny, who is recognized internationally for his skills as a teacher and artist. This new facility is showing the direction that the Czechs¿ are moving in to compete in the international market of art glass. Although these late nights did drain us of the stamina required to continue the long days at 100%, it did allow us to form lasting relationships with the international and local artists and also the friendly people of Novy Bor, which I believe was the original manifesto to the formation of the first Symposium. We woke on the morning of the 4th day, our graduation day.
As this was where we all came together, out of our cubby holes tucked away in the maze of the factory, to show what has been conjured up over the last 72 hours. Some pieces were still warm out of the kiln, or having the tape removed that held the parts in place while the glue set over night and others having the final touches of spray polish (this was interesting!). When ready the artworks were marched over to the gallery in the town square and left for selection. Due to limited space and the high standard expected, the curating was now in the hands of Professor Petrova. As the night fell on us we entered the white walled space, now lighted the works sang with honesty and commitment as here was not an outcome of three days making, no, here was the outcome of many years of artistic careers coming together to share knowledge and skill to produce what was a well thought out and curated survey of international glass art.
The 9th International Glass Symposium was held in the Crystalex factory, Novy Bor, Czech Republic on the 11-15th Oct 2006. Scott Chaseling is presently the Leverhulme Research Fellow at the University of Sunderland, UK and the Institute for International Research in Glass.
