Dale Chihuly is an American glass sculptor who
was born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington. He was introduced to glass while
studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in
1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the
University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of
Design, where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a
decade.
Today,
Dale Chihuly’s work is included in more than 200 hundred museum collections
worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including eleven honorary
doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Chihuly
has created more than a dozen well-known series of works, among them Cylinders
and Baskets in the 1970s; Seaforms, Macchia, Venetians,
and Persians in the 1980s; Niijima Floats and Chandeliers
in the 1990s; and Fiori in the 2000s. He is also celebrated for large
architectural installations.
Eighth
grade art students learned about glass as a medium for art and the life and
work of Dale Chihuly as an introduction to their field trip to the glassblowing
studio (which is next week). To create this collaborative chandelier, students used colored
permanent markers to decorate regular plastic drinking cups. The cups were
melted in a toaster oven to create individual glass-like forms, which were
combined to create the installation piece. (I originally saw this idea on Pinterest... isn't Pinterest ridiculous?! It actually freaks me out a little how many projects from my blog are pinned, but it's also pretty cool too!)
Before:
After (the chandelier is installed in the lower lobby of the middle school):
 |
| I like that when you walk down the hall from the Atrium, past the Art Room, you see the piece through the window in the wall :) |
First, your blog is incredible. I am a first year middle school art teacher, and am so inspired by your work!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how you connected the "glasses" on this project to create the chandelier sculpture? This is definitely a project I would like to try.
Thank you so much, your work is wonderful!
Thanks so much for the nice compliment! I just used fishing line- Eventually it was a lot of pieces all tied around and onto one another until I got a decently shaped clump. Very technical :)
ReplyDeleteDid you use hard platic cups that can crack or the softer plastic cups?
ReplyDeleteI used the harder plastic ones that can crack!
DeleteThis is a great lesson idea and the final product looks great! I am also a first year middle school art teacher and I love looking at your blog for inspiration! I am a bit overwhelmed, but your ideas are great!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Good luck- don't be overwhelmed- Kids LOVE art and so your class will always be a favorite!
DeleteLove this--how do get all of the cups to stay together in the final piece? Hot glue? I'd love to do this project but I'm not sure how to get the individual cups to stay together well so I can hang it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIf you melt them long enough, a hole will be created in the bottom of the cup. If that doesn't happen, you should be able to poke one really quick as soon as it comes out of the oven and is still soft-ish. Then I just threaded them all through the holes onto fishing line. Hope this works for you!
DeleteThanks Mrs. Kamp! I'm trying to figure out if I should attempt this as a "family night" project where each family colors 10-15 cups or so and makes their own chandelier to take home…I'd love to try it and think my families would have a blast…do you think that families with kids ages 3+ could do this in 2 hours? Thanks for your help with this--so cool!
DeleteThey could definitely decorate them but you might run into trouble when melting them. I could only melt two at a time in the toaster oven I have, and it takes a min or two to melt them... So unless you had more than one little oven, you would end up with a backup as far as melting them all within the 2 hour window... Make sense?
DeleteCould you use a regular oven instead of a toaster oven? What do you think? I am having all my classes do this and I thought if I used the FACS rooms ovens I could get a lot done at one time! Also is it something where you would only want to do a few at a time because you have to string them right away while the plastic is kind of soft still?
ReplyDeleteI didn't try a regular oven, but give it a whirl and see! It definitely took a long time doing 2 at a time in the toaster oven. but sometimes one of them would start melting faster than the other, and it might be tricky if a bunch were in the oven at once. You might need to pull them out before some are "overdone" while at the same time, others might be "underdone" (if that makes sense).
DeleteI didn't string them until they were all done and cool. When you heat them, just heat them enough that a hole melts open in the bottom of the cups and then thread the fishing line through them all.
I'd love to try this. Can you melt the cups in a regular oven?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea! Try it out and see! You'd just have to watch really closely I suppose and pull them out quickly when they start to melt
Delete(see my reply to another comment above also!)
DeleteGreat idea! I first "slumped" plastic cups when I was an El Ed major in 1979. We had extra champagne glasses in the house, which I layered in a pyrex baking bowl, and stuck in a regular gas oven -- the object became a comment in the art vs. craft / non-functional vs functional debate popular in university art departments at the time. I've been planning on using clear flatware, as well. I've never used markers, but I love the effect your students got with color. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea! After reading through all the questions/your replies above, I have two more questions :) What temperature did you have the toaster oven on? About how long did it take for a cup to melt (I know you said above they melted at different paces) but in general--are we talking 2 mins, 5 mins, 10 mins? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteHi Susanna,
DeleteI think it was around 250 degrees, or in that range (prob not lower, maybe up to 275), but I can't remember exactly since it was a few years ago! It took about 2 min I'd say! The toaster oven sort of "clicks on" to maintain the heat, so it would be fast when it was "on"/heating, as opposed to maintaining the heat, if that makes sense...
Love this idea! Did you put the cups in the oven right side up or upside down? Is that parchment paper that you put under them? Did it stick them at all?
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to try this with my students soon. Do you put the cups in the oven right side up or up side down? Is that parchment paper that you put under them? Do they stick to the parchment paper when you take them out?
ReplyDeleteI THINK upside down, but I don't really think it would matter. Yes, parchment. No to sticking
DeleteI did it with my kids and they LOVEDIT it came out good everyone said it was lovely
ReplyDeleteawesome!
DeleteHas anyone tried this in a microwave? It seems like you could control the timing there very precisely.
ReplyDeleteStay clear of the fumes
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of solo cups do you use? Does it say #6 or #1 on the bottom?
ReplyDeleteI don't know- this was 4 years ago and I am not in my classroom any longer. They were not "Solo" brand cups. They were hard plastic disposable cups from Party City (perhaps sold as wine glasses, but without the stem obviously).
DeleteIt's #6 Plastic that melts this way. Solo cups don't work the same way.
ReplyDeleteAs an art teacher myself, I do not recommend using your home oven, or a toaster oven that you use for personal reasons, I purchased a used toaster oven at a Goodwill for a couple of bucks. The cups are made from toxic materials, not something that should be exposed to home use ovens.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I used a toaster oven that was in the classroom just for baking polymer clay, etc. - not food.
Delete