From There to Here

Practice:

Brian T. Usher on his conversion to kiln glass and subsequent work at the famous Czech studios that have the largest kilns in the World dedicated to the production of artistic Glass.

A single moment can, and often does, change ones life. The effects of a simple choice, a quiet decision, or an opportunity presented and seized often go unnoticed. Some, however, stand out and force us to take notice. These moments can irretrievably alter the course of your life and are most often moments about which no one else knows. I would like to share one such event with you.

In 1999 I began an MA program in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London. I had applied with a portfolio of mainly ceramic work. My proposal had been to develop a series of installations based upon toys and simple forms and shapes that many children first encounter. Of particular interest to me was the development of meaning and the layering of memory through the use of simple (most likely symbolic) form.

The first project we were given was to make a piece based on two words. The two words were drawn from a hat that had been filled with randomly selected words. The hat goes around the room twice, each time you take out one word. So my turn, in goes the hand, out comes the slip of paper and - SERIOUS. Ok, I thought, I could deal with that. Second time, in goes the hand and out comes - FLOP. Great, my first day at the RCA and the two words I pick out of the hat are Serious Flop. The humour was wasted on no one.

A project stipulation was that you use some processes that you were not familiar with. The idea being to quickly introduce you to all that the Department had to offer and to take the pressure off making those first few pieces. We only had two weeks to finish the pieces. I chose to do a three-component piece with cast glass and polished steel. I had some experience with glass, really just enough to sound like I could pull off my proposal, but in fact not enough to really know how. I asked a lot of questions, pieced together an annealing schedule and off I went. I was pleased with the finished piece and keen to explore the many questions that making it had raised.

At this time, Angela Thwaites and Keith Seybert had begun a two-year research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB). They were investigating materials for refractory moulds specifically for glass casting and were often busy in the plaster shop making moulds. It is here that my story, a moment that altered the course of my life occurred. My interest in glass had been piqued from the initial project and I was testing small forms and learning how to make a proper mould. Angela told me about a forthcoming trip to the Czech Republic to attend a large glass conference at the Crystalex Factory in Nový Bor. Angela and Keith would also be making research visits to glass casters in the area to speak about their casting and mould making techniques. Both Angela and Keith have a genuine interest in sharing ideas and they encouraged me to go. This paved the road for an experience that has forever changed the way I look at the world.

Angela had studied in the Czech republic in the late 80's under the tutelage of the late Professor Stanislav Libenský and his wife and artistic partner Jaroslavá Brychtová. So the visit was more like a family reunion with some of the most intriguing names in Czech glass. The two highlights of the trip for me were: meeting Professor Libenský and Jaroslavá Brychtová, and making a trip to the Pelechov casting factory and meeting Zdenek Lhotský.

Libenský and Brychtová were having a retrospective exhibition at the Karolinum in Prague. When I walked into that space, I found the works so intense they almost took my breath away. Although I have seen a great deal of Art, most of it has not changed the way I see the world. This exhibition was an exception. I realise that different works will speak to me more than others, however time plays an important role in understanding a works complexity. Works of ART have the ability to change our perceptions about our world and retain this ability over time and across all cultural, racial and economic boundaries. The individual viewer may or may not have the ability to fully appreciate or completely engage with the work at that particular time. However, while the works remain constant, the viewer changes and over time these changes allow the person to engage with the works and have their perceptions changed because of that interaction.

The two quotes below sum up some of these feelings.

Sight is a faculty, seeing is an art. To makers, the refinement of the act of seeing is crucial to the creative process. Over the years my visual sensitivities have matured, I now realise that these works haven't changed but I have, I see them with a new revelation.

David Shanner

There is only one sure test of a work of literature; to live with it for a long time. If it grows, changes, complicates and continues to surprise and delight each time it is read, then it is good. This is a negative test but a certain one. It involves a principle of life and distance. One's own life, and that of the work, continues parallel to one another... Ben Johnson put the thing exactly when he said that a great work of art 'gathers strength of life with being.' When we first engage a work we are easily wearied and put off, but whenever we look into them again we find depth and a pressure of vitality and meaning.

John Bayley

The Libenský and Brychtová work was sculpture before it was glass. The forms had transcended the material so that in an emotive and spatial sense it didn't matter what they were made from. It was only in the analytical that they were made from glass. I believe that you take in information about everything through a series of perceptual layers. In really strong work, what it is made from is one of the last layers that you should be cognisant of. Much glasswork screams at you 'GLASS' taking over any subsequent layers - if they are there at all. Seeing this exhibition gave me the confidence to change the direction of my making towards large scale pieces, and it also laid the foundation for my understanding of sculpture.

The second highlight on this trip was the visit to the Pelechov casting studios. Susanne Frantz wrote about Pelechov:

In 1994, Zdenek Lhotský took over the management of the world-renowned Center for Architectural Glass in Pelechov, just outside the north Bohemian town of Zelezný Brod.The facility was established in the late 1940's as part of the revitalization of Czechoslovakia's glass industry that was devastated by World War II. For over 30 years, Sculptor Jaroslavá Brychtová and her colleagues developed the technology and objects that revolutionised the world's use of glass for art and architecture. It is also the facility where Brychtová's collaborative sculptures with artist Stanislav Libenský were and continue to be produced.Lhotský, a former student of Libenský's, is today the owner of the company that has assumed his name. The firm now engages in the fabrication of sculptural commissions by international artists and architects. Lhotský's team of crafts persons produces the unique glass sculptures of Ann Wolf, Karen LaMonte, and Pavlík-Klumparová. Lhotský's kilns include the world's largest devoted to the production of glass sculpture. These extremely complicated works require the expertise and technical precision possessed by only a small number of crafts persons working in the Czech Republic.

Today Howard Ben Tré, Tony Cragg, and Ivan Mares are also members of the small group that has worked with Zdenek to produce glass sculpture.

Pelechov by any standard is a very large studio. As one walks from room to room, the entire casting process unfolds before you. Models of current and past projects line the floors and walls of the first room. They are made of wax, wood, plaster, styrofoam, clay, cardboard. Small moulds are stacked on shelves next to heaters to dry out before casting. It is surrealistic mix of figurines, bowls, highly decorated vases and the remnants and segments of some of the largest glass castings in the world. The next room is the mould making area. Next to that is one of the kiln rooms, then the main cold working area, then glass storage, then more cold working and then more kilns. There are treasures everywhere.

Everyone was very open and friendly and I was able to ask questions about mould making and materials. I saw two, three and four piece moulds with intricately welded steel rods to provide reinforcement. Reservoirs and moulds nailed together; bolted together in some cases. Rubber forms are often used, instead of wax, to create the plaster moulds that are then joined together and covered with a thin layer of plaster. Forms that I thought were too complicated for glass now seemed possible to make.

As the scale of some of the ideas I was working on made it impossible for me to achieve them by myself, I decided to have some pieces cast at Pelechov. I wanted the first to be a dark grey blue colour, one that would be almost black at the base and faint at the tips. Zdenek has been working with a glass manufacturer that has produced a new line of glass for casting. The glass is light like a soda glass but flows and is soft like a lead glass. This was ideal for my needs. It took 3 days to make the mould, which then took 6 weeks to dry. The casting took close to a month followed by the cold working. In total - 7 months. Here is a good bit of advice - if you choose to work with a factory to produce some of your work, you must allow several months ahead of your deadline.

I made a trip to see the casting and make choices about the cold working and finish. I was there for three days and in that time we worked on the form until it was right; sandblasting parts and hand working others, and then acid polished the entire piece. This involved driving the piece to another factory about 2 miles away and then clearing out of the room while the acid polisher poured the acid over the piece from 5 gallon buckets. It took 12 pours to get the finish right.

The piece titled 'The Inevitability of Agnus' a response in many ways to the opening chapter of Milan Kunderas' book Immortality", will be shown at the Beldam Gallery, Uxbridge, in March 2003.

That is my story. Above all what I hope to share with you is my belief in the need to be open to what life presents you and participate in those occurrences fully.

Concerning all acts of initiative and creation there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.Begin it now.

J.W.V. Goethe

References

Bayley, J. (1999). 'A note on Judging Cont. Lit.' quoted in, M.W. Rowe, British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 39, #1, pg.40, January.Franz, S K. (2000). 'A New Bohemian Tradition: Center for Architectural Glass in Pelechov' Goethe, J W V. 1749-1832 German Poet and Dramatist. Quote attributed to GoetheShanner, D. 'The Studio Potter', Volume 17 #1, Dec., 1988, pg. 17.

Brian Usher was born in the USA and has lived in England for five years. He originally studied Clinical Psychology at Alfred University. While at Alfred, he also studied for two years in the internationally recognised Ceramic arts program. After deciding to pursue a career in art full time he enrolled in the Ceramics department at Arizona State University. Upon his arrival in the UK, he completed a BA degree in Ceramics at the University of Westminster - Harrow and then an MA at the Royal College of Art in London. Usher now teaches regularly at the Art Centre at Brunnel University and has participated in many exhibitions both in the UK and internationally.