On the Floor: Absolutes & Unspoken Communication

Photo by Chelsea Tornga Photography.

By Sarah Gilbert, Hot Shop Starter

A large part of what makes Museum of Glass such a special place is the people who work here. As anyone who has visited MOG knows, one of the most dynamic parts of the guest experience is the live glassblowing demonstrated daily in the Hot Shop. The MOG Hot Shop Team is one of the most visible and tightly knit departments in the Museum. Their daily displays of talent and technique invite audience members to witness the fascinating process of glassblowing and gain insight into how the works of art in MOG’s galleries have come into being.

There are no absolutes in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. Yet, over many years working here, I have consistently been asked about them. What is your favorite thing that you ever made? Who was your favorite Visiting Artist to work with? Which piece was the most challenging? And on and on and on. Various versions of these questions always come up.

The truth is that we on the Hot Shop Team are always working with new people who regularly push the limits of size and complexity for us and our facility. The Hot Shop is everchanging, and our team is always shifting and adapting to whichever new projects are presented. This makes it hard, if not impossible, to claim anything as an absolute. The bar is always moving.

The unpredictable nature of the MOG Hot Shop is perfect for our team. I believe this capacity to be flexible and problem-solve on the fly is what makes us strong. Much of this strength comes from our shared experiences on this hot shop floor. Over time, we have developed a language unique to us – one that informs how we apply color, load pieces into the annealer, and map the steps for assembling a work. These learned communications and habits have become part of the fabric that binds us. It is our superpower, and it is one reason why I am so proud to be part of this team.

People often observe we are often not talking to each other while working. (When we do, we are often discussing food, cooking, fishing, or camping.) It is true that we sometimes require little verbal communication when working on a piece. We usually have a brief discussion before we begin, and the rest is simply a look across the shop, or an acknowledgment with a quick nod of the head. Like a soccer team, we know the steps to the play, and everyone takes their position as we run down the field.

The collective second nature our team exhibits is akin to one of my favorite ways of explaining my job: it is like being the house band. We are there to facilitate an artist in making their idea come to life. Our experience and learned shorthand over many years of blowing glass together allows us to remove some of the burden of planning. The artists can skip or ignore a few steps and focus on what matters – their vision. And like a house band playing the uptempo, a jazz classic, or a hard rock solo, we are well-versed in many methods of glassmaking.

However, no matter how comfortable we are, the point remains: there are no absolutes in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. Even after 24 years of working with the material, there is always problem solving involved – always something new, something bigger, something that in that moment, might be “my favorite.” This is the best part of the process. I am learning new things every week I come to work. Perhaps “learning” is the only absolute in the Hot Shop. I will forever be a student of the material. So, in that sense, my favorite artist to work with is the artist I learn from. How can I better build an idea? How can I make a more perfect Avolio? My favorite piece is the piece that taught me something or made me think differently about my own practice. Luckily, in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop, this happens all the time.

Sarah Gilbert. Photo by Chelsea Tornga Photography.

About the Artist:
Originally from Rochester, New York, Gilbert took her first glass class in 2000. She received her BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2005, and in 2006 she moved out to the Pacific Northwest to work as a member of the Museum of Glass Hot Shop team in Tacoma, Washington. She has been there ever since, assisting artists from around the world in making their work in addition to developing her own practice. Gilbert’s work has been featured recently in the exhibition, Young Glass, at Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark and Fluid Formations: The Legacy of Glass in the Pacific Northwest at the Whatcom Museum.