The Melting Point

design studies in a glass blowing workshop

Year: 2023-24
Supervision: Almut Nowack M.A.
Focus: material learning | shaping | experimentation
Designers: Leopold Slenczka

Display of colorful glassware on a table, including various mouth-blown glass cups and containers in amber, purple, and green hues, with shelves and blurred objects in the background.

Combination:
Metal with Glass

An art sculpture combining rusty metal and a clear glass bowl, held together with metal clips and supports.

Band saw blades

A hand holding a small, rusty metal stove with glass test tubes hanging underneath, placed on a plain white surface.

Press 1

A glass sculpture resembling a jellyfish, with a clear glass dome and metal wire support structure underneath.

Dome

An old rusty hand truck filled with glass cups, with some cups spilling out and melting into a puddle of melted glass on the ground.
A metal ice scoop with a perforated basket scooping glass figurines, placed on a white surface, with a blurred background.

Press 2

Topographies:
Textile and Manual

Abstract glass sculpture with fluid, flowing shapes on a white surface, casting shadows.

Manual Shaping

A person working with glassblowing equipment, shaping molten glass with a torch in a workshop, with other workers in the background.

rather hot improvisation ;)

A distorted, crumpled transparent glass vase with a spiral pattern, casting a shadow on a white surface with a plain, light-colored background.
A tall, purple glass vase with a narrow neck and flared rim, set against a white background.

texture, induced by fire resistant textile as negative

Exploring Tradition:
Rotation

Stacked purple and transparent glass containers or cups on a white background.

Rotational Objects, repeatable

A stack of four transparent purple glass cups, arranged vertically against a plain white background.
A clear, textured glass candle holder with three stacked sections on a white background.
Five stacked, colorful, semi-transparent glass vases against a white background.

Product Family

Exploring Tradition:
Casting

Several translucent, irregularly shaped objects with ridges, resembling soap or mineral chunks, placed on a white surface against a white background.
Close-up of a textured surface made of a reddish-brown clay or similar material, with circular and rectangular indentations and lines

little soap holders were cast that could be sold to finance the exhibition

Exhibition

An exhibition room showcasing various glass art pieces arranged on shelves and display tables, with spot lighting and a neutral wall background.

The exhibition was designed in a group effort with all the students that had participated in the course. It was shown for two weeks in Bauhaus-University Weimar.

A wall with metal shelving units displaying various decorative items including lamps, vases, and bowls, with two small screens showing images; one with an animal and the other with a landscape, and some blurred objects in the foreground.