Harry Morgan

Glass student at The University of Edinburgh | Edinburgh College of Art.

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Harry Morgan

website launched (smartphone & tablet compatible) - all blogging activity will take place on here from now on

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My largest 'Amalgamate' piece to date, with over three days worth of stringers arranged to create subtle gradients of colour. The stringers are grouped in two slightly different lengths so that the fluid brass form has two tiers. This will mean that the glass will sit a slight angle when the object is flipped and presented.

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'Lost-wax' moulds for the pate de verre objects. The 'Objecthood' section of the project has provided a good opportunity for me to practice and refine my kiln-forming processes.

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I tested a range of materials - plastics, glass and plaster with shellac - as new mould making materials for the concrete components in my pate de verre work, in order to find a suitable patina that compliments the glass. I also tried some concrete coloring pigments.

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The stones have been cleaned. The aggregates have been mixed. The concrete has been poured - in both standard and white. As the fluid material navigates around the stringers, we wait for four days for a chemical reaction to occur and when the concrete transcends to a solid state, it will be bound to the myriad of stringers as one object.

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There has been a considerable increase is scale for my concrete final pieces. I have continued to use 'high impact plastic' for the clean cut geometric forms and smooth surface, with additional supporting brackets and a plaster shell for strength. The stringers are then arranged inside.

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In two and a half hours I can pull approximately 378 meters of glass string, which is around 10cm³. This ritual has taken up a lot of my time recently

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I applied for this Corning/Kohler residency a few weeks ago. It would be a great opportunity to develop the Amalgamate process

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Roni Horn often works in glass, exploiting its material qualities to explore the "mutability" of the elements.

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I recently submitted my application for the £10,000 ECA Deutsche Bank Award. It was a useful activity to write a business plan and it certainly put things into perspective. I hope they are aware that when asking an art student to create an 'Income-Expenditure' spreadsheet, the numbers will be optimistically plucked out of thin air.

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I spent the morning at the 'Powederhall Bronze' foundry to watch the team work on a number of projects. The final image shows them pouring the silicone bronze over my mould and stringers. They were keen to help a student and I learnt a lot in my short time there.

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Working with the bronze casting technician to create refractory moulds that will withstand the intense heat of molten metal, for the upscaled 'Amalgamate' pieces. It was my first time using styrofoam and a hot wire to create the forms. Next, the stringers are arranged.

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Lots and lots of stringers.

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The patte de verre test pieces. Getting closer to the right firing schedule - the glass needs heated to the exact temperature of a semi-liquid state and held for the minimal length required to bind the powder as one object.

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The ‘Systemic’ painters from the 1950s/60s - and in particular the work of Agnes Martin - have influenced both the drawing and sculpture of this project. Known for her exploration of space and field, Martin’s drawings and paintings resonate with the project in their careful application of geometry and concern with "conceptual order". (See 'Sketchbook' in the blog menu)

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Physicists find a new 'state of matter' in the eyes of chickens

An unusual arrangement of particles has been discovered in the cells of chicken eyes. It's the first time scientists have seen such a system in a biological system — one that allows materials to behave like both a crystal and a liquid.

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Re-photographed work for the dissertation