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<font size="+1">Google Web Alert for: <b>"defying gravity" "josh
simpson"</b></font>
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<p style="width: 600px;"><a moz-do-not-send="true" style="color: blue;"
href="http://www.joshsimpson.com/site/index.php?page=corning"><b>Josh
Simpson</b> Contemporary Glass - The Corning Museum of Glass <b>...</b></a><br>
<font size="-1"><b>Josh Simpson</b>’s glass art reflects his informed
interest in the
natural world, outer space, <b>...</b> Megaplanet. <b>Defying
Gravity</b> premiered in December of 2006. <b>...<br>
</b></font></p>
<font size="-1"><b>Many more photos of the hot shop equipment and
close-up images can be found here:</b></font><br>
<font size="-1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://joshsimpson.com/gallery2/v/corning/">http://joshsimpson.com/gallery2/v/corning/</a><br>
<br>
Tony Patti<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.glassblower.info">www.glassblower.info</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:gaffer@glassblower.info">gaffer@glassblower.info</a><br>
<br>
</b></font>
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href="http://www.joshsimpson.com/site/index.php?page=corning"><br>
<b>http://www.joshsimpson.com/site/index.php?page=corning</b></a><br>
<br>
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<td valign="top"><!-- Start Content Area --> <b class="title">The
Corning Museum of Glass Megaplanet Story</b><br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="cid:part1.08050305.07060604@glassblower.info"
align="left" height="220" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="331">In April
2005 I was invited to give a series of lectures at the Corning Museum
of Glass. At one of the lectures I mentioned that I hoped to make a 100
lb. Megaplanet someday – clearly I was suffering from a bad case of
testosterone poisoning. After hearing this, Director David Whitehouse
and Curator Tina Oldknow commissioned a 100 lb. Planet for their
collection. <br>
<br clear="all">
<img alt="" src="cid:part2.02040406.08010501@glassblower.info"
align="right" border="0" height="220" hspace="15" vspace="10"
width="307">If I had known what technical (and human factor) hurdles I
would have to overcome I might have thought longer than the 2 seconds
it took me to accept the commission. New electrical service to the
studio, a special heavy-duty blowpipe and giant-sized wood shaping
blocks were all required. <br>
<br>
I could never make these pieces without the dedicated help of my crew.
Over the course of 9 months we made 15 attempts with four successes. I
wanted Tina Oldknow to have several Planets to choose from for the
collection before the exhibit opened. <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=1391"><br>
<br>
</a><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=1391"><em></em></a><a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=1391"><em>Worlds
Within:
The Evolution of the Paperweight</em></a> opened November 16, 2006. I
loved Tina’s idea to show some of the more spectacular failures as part
of this exhibit – including the Megaworld that had exploded and was
just a pile of shards when I opened the cooling oven two and a half
months later. <br>
<br>
I was honored to be asked to create the 1000th paperweight for the
Corning collection. I have spent many hours at the Museum and in the
Rakow Library since I started making glass but it was only in my
wildest imagination that I would be involved in a commission like this. <br>
<br>
<em><br>
<em></em>Josh Simpson’s
glass art reflects his informed interest in the natural world, outer </em><em>space,
ecology, and technology. …As Simpson developed and refined his galaxy
of glass “Planets,” they became increasingly larger. Soon, Simpson was
making “Megaworlds” that, 10 years ago, weighed up to 30 pounds. Today,
using custom-made equipment and the </em><em>assistance of a practiced
team of glassblowers, Simpson’s “Megaworlds” weigh </em><em>up to 100
pounds. The impressive scale of these technically challenging objects </em><em>takes
Simpson’s complex imagery of teeming oceans and vast plateaus beyond </em><em>the
idea of the paperweight into the realm of large-scale sculpture.</em>
<blockquote>
<p align="right">Tina Oldknow<br>
Curator of Modern Glass<br>
Corning Museum of Glass<br>
Corning, NY</p>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="cid:part3.02080300.00050006@glassblower.info"
align="left" height="200" hspace="10" width="267">PBS filmed a
documentary on the making of Corning’s 100 lb. Megaplanet. <em>Defying
Gravity</em> premiered in December of 2006. <br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://joshsimpson.com/gallery2/v/corning/">View</a>
Josh and crew during their many attempts over the 14 month adventure! <br>
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