This hands-on experimental course will give students the opportunity to investigate a wide range of hot casting methods. The class will focus on exploring and innovating with a variety of mold materials: sand, CO2, refractory, wood, metal, organic and found molds. Hot glass ladle casting will be our primary working technique. Demonstrations will not linger on the technical but rather, will function as a catalyst for students to engage in an aesthetic and/or conceptual dialogue with technique and material. Both the studio process and the information presented in this class will encourage collaborative as well as individual work. This class will permit a deep investigation into the process of casting and into the innate properties of glass.

Elective

Glass IIIA is an advanced major studio that requires intermediate glass working skills and familiarity with the material. This course stresses the continuing development of personal imagery, viewpoint, visual source research and the refinement of material processes in terms of individual artistic requirements. As preparation leading to the senior thesis project, independent studio work and individual consultation are emphasized. During this semester, each student is expected to seek out at least one professional artist outside the Glass Department and develop an artistic association with this advisor for the duration of the senior year.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $300.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Glass Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Glass

Students will be introduced to various methods of utilizing molten glass in the hotshop and work towards creating works that emphasize the aspects that characterize the medium in its molten state, (for example):

- Time-based

- Movement, Choreography, and the Body

- Fluidity

- Amorphous

- Performative

- Collaborative

In lecture we will visit historical artworld references such as Fluxus, Surrealism, Happenings, and Performance Art, as well as contemporary examples. We will also cover material characteristics of glass, with an emphasis on the material in its molten state. Students will be strongly encouraged to experiment and push aside any preconceptions of what type of art can be made from molten glass. Students will work in pairs and small groups on a series of weekly exercises and prompts that will lead to finished works.

Estimated Materials Cost: $200.00

Elective

This semester is directed towards defining and organizing an evolved artistic viewpoint that incorporates glass in a visual imagery. At the beginning of this semester, students are required to present a slide source presentation to a department assembly that is a compilation of the previous three semesters' visual research. Each student is also expected to further develop his/her artistic association with a designated "outside" advisor(s) and involve this professional artist in critique and consultation. Artistic premise and intention are comprehensively presented in a senior thesis exhibition. A complete portfolio is presented to the department at the completion of this semester.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $500.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Glass Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Glass