Keith Cummings' latest book is a fascinating account of the techniques that have been developed over more than 5,000 years to shape and decorate that most magical of material, glass. Most histories of glass talk about the materials role in society or the artistic merit of the pieces made, but from the standpoint of maker, Keith Cummings instead talks about the qualities of the material itself and the processes, skills, tools, devices and machines that have been developed over the millennia to explore and exploit its unique qualities.
The way objects have developed reflects a dynamic between cultural, technical, and artistic factors as well as the nature and behavior of glass. Attempts to fully understand the whole range of influences that work together to shape an objects, often ignore the crucial part played by its actual production. Keith Cummings aim is to place the knowledge of the development of making processes and skills within reach of all, and to share his admiration for the original, inventive, creative thinking and decision making that put them in the service of humankind in the first place. As a result, this account is not an exhaustive, inclusive repository of such processes and skills. It is rather an account of the creative dialogue between material and human ingenuity, an attempt to relate this to the cultural systems it served, and to place these within a chronological sequence. The result is a unique book that should greatly add to our understanding of glass and its development.
Price: $33.50
|
