At its core, Glass Futures is a philosophy for rebuilding glassmaking education from the ground up. Conceived as a series of masterclasses at r.a.g.e, it is an optimistic trajectory that instigates new ways of learning outside the collapsing frameworks of tertiary institutions – recognising that the survival of hot glass as a craft in Australia depends on artists assuming custodianship – passing on skills, methodologies and value systems through direct, embodied exchange.
This debut publication chronicles the first program in the series, led by internationally renowned glass artist Giles Bettison and artist-educator Lienors Torre. Across several days of intensive creation, what emerged was less a set of objects than a crucible of making: a feverish, hands-on environment where technique and material intelligence converged.
As both a manifesto and a testament to resilience, Glass Futures argues for education as the lifeblood of craft, demonstrating how artists can secure their medium’s future through self-determination and shared practice. It underscores the urgency of sustaining knowledge through direct, artist-to-artist exchange, and offers a timely model for sustaining craft in defiance of machine’s erosion of hand skills.
98 pages, 24 x18 cm, softcover, published by r.a.g.e (Naarm / Melbourne).