calling dale chihully- re notre dame windows.

[mopinko]

i had a short engage w someone here about the "lost arts" that created the nd stained glass windows, that the recipes for some colors were lost to time. that they just could not be recreated.
i contended that some artist, somewhere, had either found the records somewhere, gotten enough clues to what the recipes were, or figured it out for themselves.

add on new tech, and some incredibly talented restorers out there, i have no doubt that any ruined windows can be recreated very nearly perfectly.
hell, you can put a tiny bit in a couple of scientific instruments that arent even that new and get a pretty damn accurate starting point.

as exhibit A- i give you dale chihully. he is a modern master of the art of color theory, and glass color chemistry.
at this point in his life, he is passing down his skills and has a whole stable of artists that do most of the grunt work for him. which is to say- a lot like those good old days.
art and science in one package. how you get this shit done.
i vote for him to produce the glass.

change my mind.

[hunter]

1. Some of the old colored glass recipes are extremely toxic.

Makers of the original glass may have unknowingly done themselves serious damage -- cancer, damage to the nervous system, etc..

There's no need to make historically accurate recreations of this glass when there are much less toxic modern formulations.

[Hekate]

4. People nowadays know to wear masks and gloves, and to wash lead off their hands before eating...

...their lunch. So there's that.

[EveHammond13]

2. his work is so organic

[nolabear]

3. He doesn't do flatwork though.

Not that he actually does his own blowing. He has a huge staff that actually blows the glass since he has no depth perception. But your point is well taken. There are some modern masters who can do incredible work. Lino Tagliapietra comes to mind. Happily, the rose windows are okay but I’m sure there are many brilliant artists who can make the place beautiful again.

I have a fairly modest but lovely art glass collection so have seen some great artists at work. Even took a blowing class years back. It’s a wonderful art!

[iamateacher]

5. Chihuly is a hot glass artist

Stained glass is a different medium. You work with the glass cutting and shaping while it is cold. But I agree, there are some wonderful modern artists who are stained glass masters and it would be lovely to see contemporary work. Tom Fruin from Minnesota and Sigmar Polke (who has done work in European churches) come to mind.

[mopinko]

7. i realize that. but the leap would be about like a crack in the sidewalk.

he has the modern color spectrum in his back pocket.
i dont see him working on the actual windows, just pouring the glass. he probably already knows how it was done back in the day.

i am sure there will be some modern nods. it's france, after all. you wont be able to shut all the artists up.

[iamateacher]

11. He does not make his glass

It is made in Germany. He and his crew heat it in furnaces and blow it. I met someone in Seattle who worked with him and he told me the local glass artists would dumpster drive for the remnants of the expensive glass that his team left behind back in the day.

The premier art glass making company in the U.S. is Bullseye in Portland. Germany has several premier companies, as does Asia. Glass artists buy the raw art glass that fits their medium... hot (glass blowing), warm (kiln worked), cold (stained glass) and then they work it.
Delphi Glass is a supplier of all these types of art glass.

[demigoddess]

6. I would love to see people like this come forward and volunteer to help

rebuild Notre Dame. all kinds of artists and restorers.

[mopinko]

8. from what i saw today, they are coming out of the woodwork.

and when your fallback is the vatican restoration team, i think it will spectacular.

[trof]

9. Brilliant!

[brooklynite]

10. Dale Chihuly is the wrong person...

He is an artist in BLOWN GLASS, not stained glass. The skill set is not the same.



(I have one of his pieces; my BIL has done work for him)

[kerry-is-my-prez]

13. I have one I'm looking to sell. Any ideas where or how?

[maxsolomon]

12. NO.

France can handle this. There's simply no reason to involve Chihuly's assistants.