Impetus for creation
Saw a glass washboard in a vintage shop and lusted after it
Saw new apartment block being built with no balconies
Noticed how tea towels say ‘Glass Cloth’ on them
What did I do?
Bought the washboard ( and then two others off Ebay)
Bought a tea towel (glass cloth) and had a silkscreen made of the border area Researched the issue of laundry in housing and its psychosocial impact
Learnt how to make a thin sheet of powder printed glass frit and bend it Interviewed my sister about her experiences of laundry
Outcomes
Glass tea towels
Soundtrack
Need to develop pieces into an installation
Teatowels
Originally wanted wet look tea towels that I could manipulate hot in my kiln to get scrunched look. Too scary and burns gloves rapidly.
Moved to a sugar fired frit sheet which went through several slump firings to develop the shape. In a small shallow kiln bends had to be done in several stages.
I’d had a break from glass work while I completed my MFA ( which included film and mixed media pieces) and this experimentation was my way back into feeling comfortable with glass work again.
In addition to the towels I made a monogrammed handkerchief to act as the signature.
The making process: Handkerchief
made from a thin layer of white fine frit with a band near the edge of clear ( to replicate satin detail on old handkerchiefs). Monogramme made from a fine powder line drawn directly onto unfired frit.
Sugar fired to keep texture - took it just to the point where it was fused enough to allow slumping.
Slump fired - needed several firings to get the multiple folds, especially as kiln very small. Had to watch carefully as a few degrees of temperature or a few minutes could take things past the point I wanted.
Presenting the glass cloths as an installation
I used two vintage washboards and had them assembled into an A frame ( thank you Ashley Benson-Wilson). This formed the central display of the installation, with one towel draped over the top and the other glass pieces laid around it. I wanted some glass bubbles, and found some from a beginners class in glass blowing. Id have liked more but couldn’t arrange a personal glassblowing day in time for the photography, so some of the bubbles are from my stash of Christmas ornaments. I trapped these in a the washing tongs.
With the folded ‘signature’ handkerchief and the coal iron that held the sound system the installation included all the elements successfully.
The research into the physical and mental effects of laundry in homes
Found a report by the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU) at The Glasgow School of Art, by Rosalie Menon and Colin Porteous “ Design Guide: Healthy Low Energy Home Laundering. http://www.homelaundrystudy.net/design.html
They discuss the health risk associated with hime laundering including damp leading to black mould, carcinogenic chemicals in laundry fragrances, disruption of the wellbeing through crowding of limited space, asthma and other impacts.
I needed some way to bring together this formal research and the art materials into a piece that carried meaning. I interviewed my sister, who raised children in places with a variety of laundry facilities and home design. I interwove this personal account with readings from the MEARU report.
Presenting the sound
This sound track necessitated producing a way of managing the technology - I found a beautiful coal iron that would hold the audio player an splitter for two sets of headphones inside its body.
The full soundtrack for this piece is available on on this website.
The piece was completed in tie to be submitted to the British Glass Biennale, and was accepted.
