Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1981. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 28).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1984. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) possesses a variety of extraordinary properties including ultra high elastic limit and strength and has been applied in diverse fields such as industrial coatings, sporting foods, medical devices, defense and aerospace sectors. The cross-section thickness of a few millimeters for cast BMG alloy components limits their application to manufacturing structural components. However, continuing global efforts are underway to increase the critical part size cast with BMG alloys. There are two phases tot his project. Phase 1 investigates the feasibility of using suitable BMG alloys to manufacture a pivot assembly in an Airborne Gravity Gradiometer (AGG) via net shape manufacturing techniques. Success of Phase 1 will enable a quantum leap in the capabilities of the present day AGG devices to successfully and accurately scope the vast untapped mineral and petroleum resources globally. Requirements of high tolerances in the pivot assembly with very specific material properties and a net shape manufacturing route coupled with the lack of any database for BMG alloys were the inherent challenges. Suitable BMG alloys have been identified for this purpose and continued efforts are underway to manufacture the pivot assembly. Phase 2 of this project lays the foundation for a much needed tool to predict the Glass forming Ability of BMG alloys. This will enable to scientifically develop novel BMG alloys to suite specific application in lieu of the current ad-hoc development trends. A viable thermal model to understand the relationship between growth rate of solid phase and melt undercooling during uni-directional solidification coupled with a solidification model based on competitive growth principles have been developed. Novel experiment program and setup have been developed to verify these models. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

This research was undertaken from the perspective of an artist working with glass and lampworking techniques. Lampworking involves working with prepared glass tubes and canes which are heated with the aid of a gas burner and shaped with small pincers. This art-based project offers an example of an artist attempt to integrate what might be termed ‘Chinese’ and ‘Western’ lampworking approaches. Through the creation of artworks this project offers a model of artistic practice using lampworking which forms a counterpoint to the more common kilnformed approach currently prevalent in China. In addition, the artworks that form part of this PhD submission are examples of a current interest amongst some Chinese artists in combining inspiration, commentary and experiences from ‘East’ and ‘West’ into their practice. This project details and contextualizes examples of how lampworking might be used as a medium to this end. ‘Craft’ objects are used as a starting point to develop artworks that highlight what I personally found to be diminishing aspects of Chinese culture; for example the Chinese notion of ‘Change’. This project offers a new body of lampworked artworks which have been exhibited in professional venues at a national level and that demonstrate an artist’s approach to combining aspects of Chinese and Western culture in glass art. The themes, inspiration and making process of the creative works are documented in a written thesis to form a model on which other artists might build. The recent history of Chinese lampworking (1930-2013) is presented, building on interviews and literature review of works not previously published in English. The emergence of lampworking in China as a medium for studio glass practice is also charted. For Western audiences, this research offers an example of how the inspirations from Chinese culture and philosophy have been incorporated into contemporary glass art. It also clarifies the current situation of contemporary Chinese lampworking. For Chinese audiences, this research is an instance of western art influence in Chinese lampworking practice. The demonstration of the contemporary lampworking making process is useful for other Chinese lampworking artists.

No description available.

Artists in many areas of creative glass have used float glass due to its low cost, physical reliability and extensive sheet size. To date, the creative use of the coated insulating glass known as ‘low emissivity’ has not been explored. Pilkington K Glass is one of several coated low emissivity glasses developed in response to increasing energy conservation demands from the construction industry. The accidental use of a piece of Pilkington K Glass during studio artwork firing revealed an unexpected iridescent surface effect with unusual interferential colouration. To explore this creative potential, a full investigative programme was necessary. The research was undertaken from the perspective of a studio artist using a series of small scale tests leading to the making of artwork. This was an experimental approach driven by creative goals but also influenced and verified by procedures such as systematic analysis to determine repeatable criteria and microscopic examination to gain knowledge of the structure of the fired coating. Unusual effects of strong reflective colouration and iridescence were achieved through surface manipulation of K Glass by abrasion and subsequent firing at temperatures above 750ºC. Manipulation by sandblasting and fusing with traditional float glass has enabled the development of an original method named the ‘Mirror Gap Technique’ which exhibited inter-layer interferential colouration from gold to purple. These methods and the adaptation of standard float glass procedures at temperatures above 750ºC were then expanded into the creation of artworks to further develop innovative effects and applications. This project has developed and documented new possibilities that can be applied to several areas of creative glass. Exhibition and sale of the artwork as well as commissions involving multiple productions of conference gifts and company awards have indicated that low emissivity glass can be used creatively and that this research may have a commercial application. The research has been extended to examine other low emissivity coatings and provides the glass artist with an alternative palette of techniques and effects.

This research is concerned with the engagement of waterjet cutting (a CAD/CAM technology mainly used in industrial production) from the perspective of a designer-maker. The research focus is on practical investigations in the field of ʻStudio Glassʼ a sub-branch of ʻStudio Craftʼ. Novel technical approaches of interlocking, construction, fusing and casting were developed through investigation and engagement with waterjet cutting, glass and a range materials to aid in the making of glass artifacts. Methods for creating ‘Marquetry’ in glass by interlocking shapes and reliefpatternmaking are made explicit through tests and artworks. Flexible materials, heat-resistant materials and porous materials were cut to aid in mould production for glass. The testing of interlocking by offset and topographic layering established potential routes for developing artworks. This research project has developed new technical and creative approaches for ‘Studio Glass’ through combining waterjet cutting with kiln-forming techniques. This project was achieved through practice-led research based on a ‘multi-method’ approach, by lending approaches from identified methodologies such as Bicoleur and Adopted Naturalistic Inquiry. Collaboration and facilitating projects proved that the research also have a wider application potential. The research journey shows evidence of how access to a digital fabrication technology has influenced and inspired the development of a new visual language for the researcher. It is also evident that strategies for developing ideas, as well as working-methods have changed as a consequence of employing CAD/CAM. Ideas inspired from the use of technology changed throughout the research. Initially works were based on testing, but were later were inspired by findings and as the waterjet became second nature to the researcher.

This study frames and records creative and technical processes behind a body of original glass artworks inspired by ethnic contexts. Foregrounded by my practice as a glass artist and post-colonial experiences as a Filipino-American, the content of the work is rooted in expressions of hybrid ethnicity. Encounters with foreign cultures stimulate the creative process in my work, an approach that is inspired by contemporary art in its various appropriations of ethnographic methods. This is also an important and emerging discourse within the field of glass art. The graphic image in glass offers potentials for using unique qualities of the material to express this content in artworks. This research aims to identify, develop and demonstrate how the graphic image in glass might be used to express aspects of ethnicity. The methodology consists of subject finding through personal experiences, interpretation of cultural contexts, and their visualisation through developing techniques to fabricate artworks in glass. Three case studies address specific cultural sites as the source of inspiration for glass artworks. A field study in the Baltic States observed Soviet-era architecture and interpreted its social impact. A study of ethnographic artefacts in Sunderland Museum revealed local connections to historical and contemporary Northeast England. The development of a layered plan explores one way of making a commissioned cultural map of Liverpool. My contribution to knowledge is the interpretation of a multiplicity of perspectives in ethnic contexts, a working method utilising graphic images, layered and encapsulated in unique glass sculptures that convey complex narratives. These are created through a novel combination of screenprinting, waterjet cutting, kilnforming and glass grinding techniques. As a model of practice for meaningful making, this research adds to conceptual discourse and technical innovation in the field of glass art.

This research has been an art-based practice-led project focused on Chinese 'inside painting' in glass art. It has attempted to create a 'new model' for Chinese traditional inside painting through the creation of contemporary glass artworks. This is timely because Chinese academic glass teaching is emerging in universities, and cast glass techniques dominate the curriculum. The research offers an example of how traditional methods might be revitalized by one artist to extend the options for Chinese University glass teaching. Potential recipients are glass artists and students as well as curators and collectors. This research mainly used studio-based art practices, inspired by traditional inside painting of Chinese snuff bottles, traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, influenced by Taoism, together with Western glass painting, printing and calligraphy in order to reduce some of the existing limitations of traditional methods. The methods of glass making for this research covered blowing, casting, flame work, fusing, slumping, incorporating 'outside' painting combined with 'inside' painting, and printing combined with inside painting. Traditional inside painting techniques have developed over more than 200 years into a popular form of Chinese folk art, often based on glass snuff bottles with painted decoration on the inside. The craftsmen who make these pieces usually pay more attention to inside painting skills and overlook their own artistic expression. The designs used tend to be repetitive and copies of existing designs from other media such as ink painting or photographs. In this research, a body of inside painted glass works was produced to show how the glass form and painted content were combined. This work also helped to establish possible ways to reduce the limitations of traditional inside painting of Chinese snuff bottles. Contextual aspects were supported by study visits to key collections and conferences, and interviews with other makers and collectors. It is hoped that this research will promote the development of traditional inside painting and lead to inside glass painting developing as a strand of the contemporary Chinese glass arts.