Glass is Tomorrow: RCA

— February, 15 2016

March 2015

Designers: Erin Elizabeth Dickson, Nathan Favot, Gemma Learny, Liisa Poskiparta, Galla Theodosis, Helena Todd
Glassblowers: Ulrika Barr, George Bell, Simon Moore, Liam Reeves, Martin Smith
Partners: Vessel Gallery
Established in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s most influential postgraduate art and design university. Based around the six Schools of Architecture, Communication, Design, Fine Art, Humanities and Material, our range of disciplines is broad and embodies a deep tradition of practice-based research. Housed over two campuses in Kensington and Battersea, the RCA is surrounded by some of the most important spaces and events in London’s art and design worlds, along with a vibrant social scene of bars, clubs and cafés. Our vision is to help develop great creative minds and ideas that will be central to the cultural evolution of our societies. The College is growing rapidly to achieve that goal, while responding to cultural and economic stimuli. In partnership with Imperial College London, we have a new research centre in healthcare innovation; collaborative projects with industry continue to expand; new programmes are being develo ped; and new members of staff have been appointed to our academic teams. State-of-the- art new buildings, workshops and studios are in progress, including the Woo Building, which will house the Ceramics & Glass and Jewellery & Metal programmes from 2015. Students come to the RCA from across the globe
and find themselves at the dynamic heart of one of the most exciting periods of cultural development in over a generation, born from the shifts in technology and craft, art and design, communication, science and social relevance. We actively encourage cross-disciplinary activity and experimentation, which is led by world-renowned practitioners, many of whom are drawn from our successful alumni. Our recent graduates are already establishing themselves as the next generation of artists, designers, writers and theorists – 97 per cent of graduates from 2006–10 are working or practising at an appropriate level in their chosen field.
For as many years that hand made glass has been made, a particular format has been used. Whether mould blown or hand finished, the final object is close to being finished when broken off the iron. Of course cutting is used to decorate and to finish rims. But what if the cutting was very much part of creating several finished objects from the original one. In the case of lamp working, it may be that you start with several components and later fuse together. So you are being asked to create one blown or lamp worked object that is then cut up to produce several other objects, or to rearrange the original object using every part that has been shaped.