S01.E05: Thirsty Work

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The judges issue a surprisingly tricky challenge: create a drinking glass and decanter that are both visually appealing and functional.

Original Canadian air date: 3/20/19
Original U.S. air date: 7/12/19

[Aulty]

See, with Janusz' roticello work it would have been nice to get some technical and historical background on this technique. Beautiful pieces - and he stood out by not doing just plain glass.

Patrick and Alex made very nice things too. I was not as in love with Patrick's goblet as the judges, and what a shame that Alex's was leaking.

Conceptually I liked Leah's, it was fun. But apparently the judges where keen on functionality and I am sad to see her go. Especially as both, Deborah and Momoko's pieces were just so thick and therefore not that functional either. Was the shape of Deborah's pieces really that innovative? I have seen vases with such shapes before in antique shops.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

While part of me appreciates that the show brings in a different points of view with the guest judges, the other part of me wishes that there were more glass experts judging. Having Katherine as the only glass expert seems unfair - not because I think she's biased or anything but because she's the only qualified to recognize the technical skill that the contestants are using to create their pieces.

Heh, I'd never thought about having pet peeves about drinking vessels, but what the sommelier said about stemless glassware made sense - you get fingerprints all over if there's no stem! I was totally with her when she said she doesn't like decanters that don't fit in her hand because many of them are made for men's hands.

I liked that Katherine added that female glassblowers have the same issue because glassblowing tools are made for men's hands. As a woman with small hands, I totally understand both issues. It's ridiculous and annoying when I have to use two hands to hold, lift, or otherwise use something because it's too big for my palms or fingers.

The challenge requirements didn't say that the decanter and glass had to be specifically for wine, but I was curious as to whether the guest judge was going to be looking for pieces that would be better suited for wine (actually aerating, for example). I'm an adult who doesn't drink wine so I know nothing about what would make a wine decanter functional so I would be at a total disadvantage.

I didn't realize that the artists were getting new assistants every week. I guess it's more fair that way but it must be difficult for the contestants and the assistants to get to know each other's rhythms each week.

I was really interested to see how Janusz's reticello turned out. It seemed odd that he would let his assistant put it into the glory hole and that he was going to close the door for her. If that were me, I'd be putting it in myself because I'm a control freak. I was rolling my eyes when Deborah was going on and on about how she wouldn't do something as basic as reticello. I wasn't crazy about the ball at the top of the glass stem, but I'm guessing that was for extra stability in the structure?

Momo adding indentations where your fingers go was an interesting idea but I know I've seen i before.

Patrick's decanter and glass were really beautiful. He gets bonus points for the extra piece on top for more oxygen.

I wasn't entirely clear if Leah intended to attach a glass fanny pack decanter to a belt or something. I get that she was going for quirky but I would not want to strap a glass vessel (made even heavier by the liquid inside) and hav it attached to my hip. I'd be afraid it would fall off and break. As for the cleavage cup, I first learned about something similar at a Renaissance themed wedding. Apparently cleavage vases used to be a thing back then. The bride told me that the water in the vases was supposed to help keep the wearer cool.

Alex's hourglass decanter and cup looked so delicate, but it ended up being so impractical. I know he said he wanted to make the decanter large for maximum aeration, but it shouldn't take two people to pick it up and pour.

Why did Deborah think her amoeba design would go viral? The blobbiness of the feet reminded me of plastic stuf I've seen in the kiddie section at Ikea. I liked that the sommelier pointed out that the narrow neck meant it was easy to pour but that you would never be able to clean the inside of the decanter. That's exactly why I have wide mouth water bottles. I need to be able to stick my hand inside and clean it. Deborah's decanter seemed like it would be heavy and difficult to hold so I felt validated when the guest judge said as much.

After the sommelier's complaint about the black reticello stripes, I thought Janusz was out of the running to win this week. I assumed that meant Patrick would win. I was surprised that Janusz ended up winning.

After the major complaints about Alex's huge decanter, I was afraid he was going home. Apparently Leah's was even less functional.

[GaT]

On 7/13/2019 at 5:06 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

It seemed odd that he would let his assistant put it into the glory hole and that he was going to close the door for her. If that were me, I'd be putting it in myself because I'm a control freak. 

This is something that caught my eye, I noticed that a lot of times it was the assistant putting the items in the glory hole or the annealer & I wondered why, especially because a lot of times the glass blower (do they have a name?) would be hovering right over them. I would think that if it was your work, you would want to do everything that involved touching.

[Aulty]

It might be quite exhausting to stand in front of the hot glory hole and that they switch it up because of that. Or he needed to prepare something else in the meantime. Janusz was a bit harsh with his assistant at first, but he later acknowledged that the slate was heavier than he thought, and at the end he told her that she did a good job, which was nice.

The annealer I sorta understand, because it will be the glass blower who makes the incision and breaks the glass off the pontil into the assistant's hands. And I guess every change of hands is risky and it needs to go into the annealer as quickly as possible.

[Door County Cherry]

2 hours ago, GaT said:

This is something that caught my eye, I noticed that a lot of times it was the assistant putting the items in the glory hole or the annealer & I wondered why, especially because a lot of times the glass blower (do they have a name?) would be hovering right over them. I would think that if it was your work, you would want to do everything that involved touching.

I get the impression that everything is really timing-dependent.  If the assistant is holding that rod while the blower is molding the glass into the shape they want, it might make sense that the assistant is the one who runs over to the glory hole to get it hot again ASAP because they leave it out as long as possible before reheating it.  I know with the annealer, we had other artists get a little mad when another artist and his assistant kept the annealer open too long.  I guess they were afraid that the glass would crack if it cooled down too quickly. 

[jhlipton]

On 7/13/2019 at 12:18 AM, Aulty said:

Conceptually I liked Leah's, it was fun. But apparently the judges where keen on functionality and I am sad to see her go.

On 7/13/2019 at 5:06 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

After the major complaints about Alex's huge decanter, I was afraid he was going home. Apparently Leah's was even less functional.

Alex's glass leaked.  That made his piece completely non-functional.  He should have been gone.

[yourmomiseasy]

I don't like Deborah, but I am entertained by her delusions of grandeur and inept shit talking.  

[justmehere]

I don't care for the artists critiquing each other. It's each one's right to make their own creative choices, and I think it demeans both people by including that commentary. Drop that and show more of the work. 

Yes, we learned, finally, why Deborah was so ticked at having the annealer door left open in the earlier episode. It makes perfect sense that it would cause things to cool too quickly, since slow cooling is the whole purpose of the thing. 

I thought Patrick's work was beautiful. Having the extra element to increase aeration was so specific to the challenge and was impressive. I imagine it was a tough choice between him and Janusz. But personally, I thought Janusz' work was stunning. I didn't think the criticism about the lines was quite fair because you could still easily see the liquid inside. It didn't change the color of the liquid, the technique was much more advanced than anything else, and his was the most functional. I thought the lines and the perfectly spaced little bubbles in between looked really elegant. I'm going mostly on my own visual preference, but I'm happy that he won.

Deborah got a break being told not to use colored glass. Alex's glass leaking was pretty bad, and his giant decanter was obviously too much. I think he was saved by Leah's design just not working at all. I really liked her creative ideas - always a story to them - but the decanter was rather a mess, and they couldn't pour from it. I kind of liked the cleavage glass, though. 

[Iseut]

I thought Leah's idea was fun, if not necessarily functional. I assumed she'd at least get points for creativity. That fanny-pack type thing was a lot clunkier than I expected, though. I think if she'd shown better technique her idea would have edged her out over Alex. 

Never seen reticello before; it was so beautiful! I love the little bubbles between the lines.

[biakbiak]

On 7/15/2019 at 12:28 PM, jhlipton said:

Alex's glass leaked.  That made his piece completely non-functional.  He should have been gone.

Having a glass piece snuggled up between your breasts in a crowded club is a bloody accident waiting to happen so at least his probably wouldn’t cause someone to bleed.

[chaifan]

Without the specific instruction being a decanter & glass for wine, I think the judging was a bit off.  Yes, you don't want to hold a wine glass for all the reasons the judge said.  But, brandy snifters are designed to be cupped, to keep the brandy warm.  Wine decanters are typically clear, but other liquors are often served in colored decanters - think about the blue and red cut glass often seen in Czech and Polish glass. 

That said, I think Leah's concept was fun and don't think it actually had to be 100% functional to meet the judging criterion, but I didn't like the final execution.  The decanter looked more like a flask, and it looked like crude pottery instead of glass.  But I loved her attitude, on how if she was going to go out she wanted to go out on making a dancing decanter and cleavage glass! 

I can't figure out if Deborah is getting the art snob edit, or if she really is the only contestant making jabs at the other contestants.  I do appreciate her artistic vision, though. 

[aradia22]

Momoko: I don't think it was a terrible concept. I know most wine should be kept cool/room temp and not warmed by your hands but I think the real flaw is that the rough execution made those big finger divots look like imperfections or dirt. 

Janusz: The pattern was pretty up close but rather busy from a distance.

Patrick: I like the decanter more than the glass. 

Leah: Weird concept. Not very functional. Don't hate them as display pieces.

Alexander: I feel like I would like his work so much more if he would use color. Like ever. Interesting shapes to look at.

Deborah: Weird AF. I'm kind of into it.