Object Agency Principal Jon Otis is returning this summer to GlassLab, the innovative glass design initiative sponsored by Corning Museum of Glass.
Jon will appear at design performances at GlassLab at Governors Island (Sunday, July 15, 3pm to 4:30pm) and at GlassLab at Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY (Tues. and Wed., July 17 and 18, 10am to 12pm).
The performances, which are open to the public, feature designers and glassmakers in creative collaboration as they rapidly prototype concepts and use the immediacy of hot glass as a catalyst for innovation. Participation is by invitation only.
Jon will be exploring three different ideas including the Fusion Concept (sketched below) where blown glass forms are fused to various handcrafted wooden blocks designed to receive the molten material. Each block presented allows the glass to merge with it in a slightly different way. This produces magical effects of both the fusion as well as the dimensionality, the light transference, and the organic liquid structure of glass and its desire to fill a void while simultaneously burning the surface and coding it. Additionally, the exploration of a potential top layer or the insertion of another “nested” vessel into the fused piece creates another dynamic.
This year, visitors to GlassLab sessions at Corning can also experience Making Ideas: Experiments in Design at GlassLab. This comprehensive exhibition immerses visitors in the creative process of designers who use glass as a design material through videos and objects. Experiments in Design features over 150 prototypes by nearly 50 international designers who have worked with GlassLab, including Jon Otis and can be seen at The Corning Museum of Glass Changing Exhibitions Gallery through January 6, 2013.
Fusion Concept for GlassLab creative collaboration between Jon Otis and master glassmakers.
Governors Island ferry information and schedule. It’s free and you can bring your bike.
While you’re there, you can also see Graphic Design: Now in Production. Co-organized by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and the Walker Art Center, this exhibit explores some of the most vibrant sectors and genres of graphic design today. Building 110, Governors Island. See the New York Times review.