Objective
The glass programme aims to give the student knowledge of and skills in technical, craft and design disciplines, including knowledge of materials and kiln-building as well as aesthetic and artistic understanding.
Through the process, students learn to define and address a technical, theoretic or form problem step by step from research, idea development and objectives to a finished glass product.
General features
First and second semester: During the first year of study, the main emphasis is on basic education in techniques and materials in order in order to ensure a firm basis in craftsmanship. In addition to the basic technical and craft disciplines, students work with chemistry, colour effects, the principles of different kilns, the cultural history of glass, tool functions, form studies in relation to work with hot and cold glass, industrial glass and decoration. Aesthetic perspectives must be whenever possible.
Third and fourth semester: During the second year of study, students expand and develop their technical and craft qualifications. Here the main emphasis of the programme is on idea-generation, product-development and the artistic background and on developing attitude, aesthetic sense and communicative effects. With the craft skills acquired during the first year, students have to be able to handle a project assignment. This year offers more opportunity for testing new boundaries on an individual basis.
Fifth and sixth semester: During the third year of study, students expand their artistic and idea-generating basis for developing an independent, professional attitude. During the third year of study, students mostly engage in independent, individual activities.
Course content
Material studies
Working with raw materials and glass, chemistry in theory and practice, environmental and ecological issues, principles of kiln-building, firing techniques, fireproof materials.
Design principles
Hot glass: blowing, casting, slumping.
Cold glass: Cutting, polishing, sand-blasting, working with plaster.
Product areas
Applied art, one-offs, industrial design, decoration and structural glass.
Approach
The programme involves courses and projects. During the first year of study and toward the third-semester mid-way project the work revolves around clearly defined assignments to ensure that students acquire basic knowledge and insight. As the programme progresses, students are gradually required to work more independently with self-articulated projects, and the teachers come to act more as initiators, guides and consultants. A proposal for a self-defined project must be approved by the head of department for the study line before the project is initiated. At the completion of a project, in addition to the project output itself the student gives an oral presentation on the creative process. This oral presentation is supplemented with a digital presentation that supports the project with text, images and drafts. The project is assessed by internal examination on a pass/no-pass basis. From 2010 the 7-step scale will be applied.
