Exploring the Art of Glass Through History and Around the World

 

BARBARA KLEIN: I’m Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, you can see a large heart-shaped sculpture made of blown glass. The deep red colored heart is topped with a burning flame also made of glass. It is called the “Sacred Heart of Healing” and was made by the artist Tim Tate. How did he make this interesting glass form? Today we answer this question as we explore the art of making glass.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: Throughout history, people from cultures around the world have been making glass. People first found and used glass made by nature. For example, lightning can create tubes of glass when it strikes sand that has the right combination of minerals. Glass pieces produced by lightning are called fulgurites.

Obsidian¹ is a kind of black glass formed when the heat of a volcano melts the silica material in sand. Ancient cultures broke off pieces of obsidian to make knives and weapons such as arrows. The ancient Aztec civilization in current day Mexico used obsidian for making hunting tools and jewelry². The Aztecs made extremely sharp knives and weapons from obsidian. This is one reason experts say they never developed the use of metal.

Tim Tate in his studio

STEVE EMBER: Glass is considered a physical state of matter. It may look solid, but it is a liquid as well. This is because glass has the hardness of crystal materials while also having a disordered arrangement of molecules³ like a liquid.

The chemical quality of glass is what makes up its color. Impurities⁴ in glass such as iron can give it a green or brown color. Adding chemicals to the glass can give it different color intensities⁵ and effects. For example, adding copper⁶ to glass can make it blue, while adding tin can make it white.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: It is hard to say exactly when humans first started making glass. The Roman historian⁷ Pliny said that Phoenician sailors accidentally discovered how to make glass over three thousand years ago. The sailors landed on a beach and started a cooking fire near some containers of the mineral natron. The next day, they realized that the sand and natron under the fire had melted then cooled into glass. Other experts say glass making first started four to five thousand years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, present day Iraq and Syria.

STEVE EMBER: One of the earliest methods developed for making glass containers is called core-forming. A glassmaker places a rounded piece of clay material on the end of a long metal stick. Once the clay dries, the glassmaker dips the form in a container of hot liquid glass until it is covered. The artist can then add a second color of glass to make designs over the first layer of glass. Once the glass form cools completely, it is taken off the metal stick. The clay inside is carefully cut out to form a glass container.

BARBARA KLEIN: Another ancient method of making glass that is still used today is called casting. Casting involves making a clay form in which the shape of the glass container is carved. Then, the artist puts small pieces of glass material inside of the clay form. When it is cooked at a very high temperature, the glass pieces melt and take the shape of the clay form. Once the solid glass object cools, an artist uses special tools to carve an opening in the container.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: But it was another method of making glass --the blown glass method-- that changed the glass industry of the ancient world. It was first developed in the Roman Empire about two thousand years ago. This new technology made glass production faster and less costly⁸. A glass container made by casting or core-forming could take a few days to make. With glass blowing, an artist could make many containers in a day.

BARBARA KLEIN: Glassblowing involves gathering⁹ hot liquid glass on the end of a metal pipe called a blowpipe. The glass reaches a temperature of about one thousand degrees Celsius¹⁰. At this temperature, the glass is a bright orange color. The glassblower must turn the pipe constantly so that the thick liquid glass does not fall off the end. He or she then blows through the pipe so that the glass expands into a rounded bubble form. The blown piece of glass can be worked and formed to create many different kinds of shapes. To reshape the glass, it must be continually reheated to stay soft.

STEVE EMBER: In modern terms, the hot oven that the glassblower uses to quickly reheat the glass is called a “glory hole.” The artist can shape the hot glass using metal tools such as jacks¹¹, tweezers¹² and shears¹³. Or, he or she can place the hot glass on a metal table called a marver to shape the form by rolling it back and forth¹⁴. Watching an expert glassblower is an exciting experience. The artist moves as quickly and as gracefully¹⁵ as a dancer.

A 1982 work by Dale Chihuly at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington

BARBARA KLEIN: In thirteenth century Italy, the government ordered glassblowers in Venice to move to the island of Murano. The aim was to reduce the threat of fires from the glassmakers’ furnaces. It was also useful for the glassmakers to be together so that they could control the secrets of their trade. Each generation of glassmaker would pass along the secrets of the trade to the next generation.

Murano glass became famous around the world. It is still a center for glass production today. In fact, the Murano glassblowing tradition has been a major influence on one of the most famous American glass artists today, Dale Chihuly. Chihuly trained in Murano in the nineteen sixties. His electrically colorful and fluid glass works can be seen in museums around the world.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: The Washington Glass Studio is located near Washington, D.C., in Mount¹⁶ Rainier, Maryland. This is where the artist Tim Tate works and teaches. Here he tells about his “Sacred Heart of Healing” sculpture that we talked about earlier.

TIM TATE: “My name is Tim Tate and I am a glass sculptor¹⁷. In the Smithsonian, there is a blown glass heart with a flame coming out of the top. The image in the flame is a hand and off of each fingertip are different natural healing techniques. The first heart I made was when my mother was extremely ill and after she passed away I made the heart larger. For me, it was a memory piece. For years afterwards I made these large sacred hearts. Some of them were clear with things inside, some were very colorful…”

BARBARA KLEIN: Making these hearts is not easy. Tate works with a team of glass artists at a studio in the state of North Carolina.

"Sacred Heart of Healing" by Tim Tate at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Tim Tate is also the director of the Washington Glass School. He says he loves teaching glass skills to students because he learns so much from them. And, he likes to work near the other glass artists in the school because they can exchange ideas and methods.

Tate first became interested in glass by watching glassblowers as a young child. As an adult, he developed his love of glass making for very different reasons.

TIM TATE: “When I was just a small kid I went to Corning Glass works and watched the glass blowers there and was really mesmerized¹⁸ by that…And then, years ago when I first found out that I was HIV positive, my initial¹⁹ reason for doing glass was I wanted to leave one glass vase for my nephew and nieces to remember their uncle by. My initial reason was a sense of legacy²⁰.”

“And then, I kept living and twenty-three years later, I am in many museums around the world… I just got good at it, because I knew I had to hurry because I was supposed to die.”

STEVE EMBER: Tim Tate makes glass that is meant to be sculptural. He says the message in his work is usually about healing.

Tim Tate in front of several of his glass artworks

TIM TATE: “My messages in all of these is all about healing. Either healing ourselves, or society’s healing, or healing through making art, or healing through viewing art. So, that’s what my content tends to be about.”

BARBARA KLEIN: Tim Tate also makes sculptures that he calls reliquaries. These works are made of clear blown glass containers with different objects inside. He has a big collection of interesting small objects such as maps, tools, game pieces, and dolls for putting inside the containers.

One reliquary is called “Dice”. It is filled with hundreds of small red cubes for playing games of chance. The surface of the container is covered with writing that has been cut into the glass. The message tells about different methods for guessing about the future. It says that good health can sometimes be a matter of luck.

Tim Tate is also working on a series of blown glass sculptures inside of which are small televisions playing videos. In these detailed²¹ works, the ancient art of glass meets the modern world of technology.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Steve Ember.

BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein. You can learn about other artists on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

1 obsidian   

n.黑曜石

参考例句：

• Obsidian is sacred to the Maoris.黑曜石是毛利人的神圣之物。
• Once you have enough obsidian,activate the idols.一旦你有足够的黑曜石，激活神像。

2 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

3 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

4 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。

5 intensities   

n.强烈( intensity的名词复数 )；（感情的）强烈程度；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• At very high intensities, nuclear radiations cause itching and tingling of the skin. 当核辐射强度很高时，它能使皮肤感到发痒和刺痛。 来自辞典例句
• They ask again and again in a variety of ways and intensities. 他们会以不同的方式和强度来不停地问，直到他得到自己想要的答案为止。 来自互联网

6 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

7 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

11 jacks   

n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃

参考例句：

• Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句

12 tweezers   

n.镊子

参考例句：

• We simply removed from the cracked endocarp with sterile tweezers.我们简单地用消过毒的镊子从裂开的内果皮中取出种子。
• Bee stings should be removed with tweezers.蜜蜂的螫刺应该用小镊子拔出来。

13 shears   

n.大剪刀

参考例句：

• These garden shears are lightweight and easy to use.这些园丁剪刀又轻又好用。
• With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

16 mount   

n.山峰，乘用马，框，衬纸；vi.增长，骑上（马）；vt.提升，爬上，装备

参考例句：

• Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
• She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。

17 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

18 mesmerized   

v.使入迷( mesmerize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country girl stood by the road, mesmerized at the speed of cars racing past. 村姑站在路旁被疾驶而过的一辆辆车迷住了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• My 14-year-old daughter was mesmerized by the movie Titanic. 我14岁的女儿完全被电影《泰坦尼克号》迷住了。 来自互联网

19 initial   

adj.最初的，开始的，词首的；n.首字母，姓名的开头字母；vt.标注姓名的首字母于

参考例句：

• After she'd overcome her initial shyness,she became very friendly.她克服了起初的羞怯之后，变得十分友善。
• The experiments have given initial results eventually.那些试验总算初见成效了。

20 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

21 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。