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This week
Urban Glass

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Tuesday July 20, 2010 | by Lee Brooks

OPENING: Czech glass meets Australian ethnic music in cross-cultural collaboration
FILED UNDER: Events, Opening
For “Talking Glass”, an exhibition now on view through September 10 at the Czech Center New York, designer and architect Borek Sipek and didgeridoo player Ondrej Smeykal have come together to design and craft glass didgeridoos, wind instruments first crafted by indigenous people in Australia some 1,500 years ago. These instruments are not just for music, nor are they merely a design curiosity, but fall somewhere in between aesthetic function and aesthetic fascination — in an effort to catch the eye of musicians as well as artists and designers working in glass, in addition to the general public.

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Friday July 16, 2010 | by Andrew Page

DVD Review: Glass Masters at Work: Vittorio Costantini
FILED UNDER: DVD Review
Glass Masters at Work: Vittorio Costantini A Film by Robin Lehman Corning Museum of Glass 57 min, $19.95Shot and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Robin Lehman and punctuated by insightful commentary from Corning Studio resident adviser William Gudenrath and others, Glass Masters at Work: Vittorio Costantini comes so close to perfection that we can forgive Lehman’s mise-en-scène missteps—inserting grainy freeze frames instead of proper photographs to showcase finished work at the end of virtually every chapter. But anyone who so much as glances at this otherwise beautiful film will be moved by the work and working methods of maestro Costantini, one of the greatest glassworkers of his, or any generation. Experienced glass artists, especially flameworkers and furnace sculptors, will find themselves puzzled, humbled, or speechless watching Vittorio turn out his greatest hits, one by one, for us and for posterity. The maestro’s butterfly, fish, spider, penguin, wasp, octopus, kingfisher, and beetle demonstrations manage to turn even Gudenrath, in all respects a global authority in the field of glass, into a giddy Laura Wingfield. Bravo, Vittorio.

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Friday July 9, 2010 | by Andrew Page

Help Wanted: Cal State San Bernadino seeks full-time studio art tech
FILED UNDER: Help Wanted
A multi-talented college graduate, MFA preferred, is being sought by the art department at California State University, San Bernadino to be responsible for all aspects of the two- and three-dimensional studio art facilities. The versatile applicant should have knowledge of not only operating a glass studio, but also how to manage the ceramic, wood, printing, and metal shops. Given the special challenges of operating a hot shop, one can speculate that an experienced glass tech might have some competitive advantages for the listed position.

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Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, a glossy art magazine published four times a year by UrbanGlass has provided a critical context to the most important artwork being done in the medium of glass for more than 40 years.