1978

In this time line I pull quotes to illustrate a thread in popular and scholarly writing and criticism about glass. Here we will see current glass artists defending their art against the accusations and separating themselves from these stereotypes and, hopefully, find out how and where the now-common opinion was born. Fundamentally, the general thesis seems to be born of the question, What Is Art? This question I will leave to others to answer, here I am only documenting the written history of a popular way of thinking and a popular taste.

1978 Dick Weiss:

"The Pilchuck Glass Workshops are held each summer in the foothills north of Seattle, Washington... In what has become an annual event, work done by students and instructors is shown at the conclusion of the sessions... Last year the gallery show took place at the Seattle Art Museum's Pavillion, this September through October it was held at the Polly Friedlander Gallery...

...Unfortunately I found the show itself disappointing. I strolled slowly among the objexts, trying in vain to find an emotion honestly bared, an idea bravely tackled. The objects were nice; some were even very prety. But in the final analysis they were almost all entirely decorative. Most of the objects had been excellently crafted with an eye toward judicious color placement. Here was a flying-saucer shaped bowl, its colors fading from a light blue to an intense gray to clear. Nice. There was a large upright pitcher with stylized trees etched or sandblasted into its delicate violet surface. It was very pretty, but it was not art--at least not good art.

The best items I found were a window by David Ruth and some vases by Scott White. The Ruth window was a complex mumble-jumble of lead lines and colors in a clearish field, vaguely--just vaguely--reminiscent of a later Pollock. The main color, a dark red form, snaked its way through the tangle. The window's vigor, was its prinicple strength. It wasn't trying to be delicate; it fact [sic], it was a little ugly, and that helped.

One of Scott White's vases had very nice colors--brown insects (ants?) floating in red. White here handled the fluid qualities of glass (that everyone always seems to be seeking to expropriate) very well. It was a piece that went a little beyond just being pretty, while successfully skirting the funk abyss..."

Weiss, D. "Opinion: I know of no way of judging the future but by the past." Glass Magazine. June 1978, Vol. 6, No. 1, Portland, OR. Evergreen Publishing Company. p. 51.