The Corning Museum of Glass Changing Exhibitions Gallery
May 19, 2012–January 6, 2013

Curated by Tina Oldknow, curator of modern glass, The Corning Museum of Glass
Exhibition design by Paul and Barbara Haigh, HAIGH Architects + Designers

Making Ideas: Experiments in Design at GlassLab showcases the Museum’s signature design program, GlassLab, in which designers are invited to work with hot glass. The exhibition features over 150 design prototypes by nearly 50 international designers.

Over the last decade, the field of design has shifted from a focus on industry and architecture to embrace more diverse practices, including those informed by contemporary art and craft. Processes of manufacture have been extended, in some cases, from the machine to the handmade. Unlimited production has given way, on occasion, to unique and limited edition pieces. Product design has expanded to include the creation of objects that not only represent solutions to problems, but offer questions and cultural commentary.

In today’s more fluid and receptive design environment, glass, in particular, has the opportunity of being used in newly expressive ways. Working with the Museum’s artist-glassblowers outside the context of factory production, designers are able to explore concepts and to learn about the properties of glass in ways that were not previously possible. more