Medievel Glass at Corning Museum of Glass - Assignment Example

? Medieval glass at Corning Museum of Glass 20 September Glass for drinking wine can also be an object of art; it can be society’s entire culture. Mirrors, drinking glasses, and windows were some of the functional uses of glass until people discovered that glass could also stand for their cultural identity and civilization. People who do not normally see glass as an artwork will be surprised to know that a museum of glass exists. The medieval glass collection of the Corning Museum of Glass (CMG, 2012a) displays a wide range of glass objects that had decorative and functional purposes during medieval times. After conducting a virtual visit of this museum’s “Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes and Peasants,” this writer realized how much glass can depict cultural and social beliefs, divisions, and struggles. Glass signifies cultural values and social divisions because its transformation across time depicts social stratification and social transformation. Medieval glass begins somewhere, and its humble beginnings reflect the practical needs and social concerns of its users. A 425-dated olive green glass, a Byzantine Cone Beaker, demonstrates a simple design that reflects its functional purpose (see Figure 1). After the Roman Empire disintegrated, tastes in glass varied. In locations where the Franks lived, simpler shapes and decorative styles were the norm. This Byzantine Cone Beaker is designed for convenience, which suggests how this glass expresses the pragmatic needs of its users. Glass art can be used as a “medium of learning” of another time and culture (Diffey, 1997, p.27). One can only imagine the working-class drinking their wine in pubs or homes and relaxing enough to forget their troubles. This glass stands for the practical demands of people making a living for survival. Nothing is simple with this simple glass. It is simple because life is hard. Figure 1: A Byzantine Cone Beaker, dating 425-599 Source: Corning Museum of Glass (2012b) The latest example of medieval glass in the exhibit is impressive because of its intricate design that depicts strong social changes and inequalities. A Baroque Ewer (see figure 2), a colorless glass with green tinge and numerous bubbles in color combinations, suggests aesthetic beauty and creativity. The top of the handle has a thumb rest, which is an innovation (CMG, 2012b). It signifies the changing society that demands creativity in its products. Moreover, this ewer has evolved a great deal from initial glass designs because it is multi-colored and intricately formed. Even when these things have simple functions, people craved for more beauty in their everyday objects. This beauty essentially represents their social identity. Their demand for more beautiful things in their lives connotes their need for asserting their social importance. Bourdieu talks about social and economic capital that reinforces social inequality (Dillon, 2010). Only the rich can afford this ewer, and design that is important to them becomes something coveted, and yet to the masses it is unimportant. Nevertheless, glass becomes a unique differentiating tool of their social status. Figure 2: A Baroque Ewer, dating 1550-1600 Source: Corning Museum of Glass (2012b) Glass objects represent a groups’ social status and identities. For instance, figure 3 shows a Behaim Beaker that might have been specifically made for a rich merchant’s daughter’s wedding. The wedding took place on July 7, 1495; it was the nuptial of Michael Behaim and Katerina Lochnerin, the daughter of a rich merchant, whose company monopolized the trade between Nuremberg and Venice (CMG, 2012b). This object shows that even the simplest things say something about the owner and his/her culture and society. The name Behaim Beaker belongs to a prominent family and its drawings of saints, birds, and helmets signify power. These are objects that help conceive self-identity with “images [that] shape an individual self-concept” (Freedman, 2003, p.2). It demonstrates power and majesty in itself. It is magnetizing due to what it represents and what it implicates about society and culture during the fifteenth century. Social classes and racial divisions were present, and they divided people from one another. The rich could afford to engrave their important events in glass, while the poor could only keep drinking from simple beakers. The glass is their identity. At the same time, it is also their destiny. Not many can shift from drinking through simple cone beakers to sipping wine from Behaim beakers. Figure 3: A Behaim Beaker, dating 1495 Source: Corning Museum of Glass (2012b) These glassworks represent people’s identity and culture, as well as their struggles for success and power. A simple but functional glass says something about the convenience of refilling drinks, as in Figure 1. A more ornate glass such as the Baroque ewer signifies more demanding tastes. These tastes are from people who see objects as extensions of themselves. What they use becomes who they are. Furthermore, the design also says something about their culture. It is a culture where art is highly valued both in monetary and psychological terms. The rich can afford to pay more for artistic designs. At the same time, they have the convenience of using art to display and reinforce their power (Dillon, 2010). Art becomes a capital for social identity and a measurement of success and power. Art is humanity in another physical form. It extends identities of people. At times, it reinforces their beliefs and attitudes. People, whatever society or culture they belong to, produce art that represents their owners, cultures, and societies. Sometimes, art can also maintain or change the status quo of social infrastructures. People produce art that stands for who they are. It signifies who they want to be and the kind of future world they want to see. Hence, art is personal, collective, social, political, economic, spiritual, and cultural. Art is the human in the process of becoming a unique differentiated entity. References Corning Museum of Glass. (2012a). About us. Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved from http://www.cmog.org/about _____________. (2012b). Medieval glass for popes, princes, and peasants. Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved from http://www.cmog.org/set/featured-objects-medieval-glass Diffey, T.J. (1997). What can we learn from art? In S. Davies, Art and its messages: Meaning, morality, and society (pp.26-33). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. Dillon, M. (2010). Introduction to sociological theory: Theorists, concepts, and their applicability to the twenty-first century. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell. Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and the social life of art. Reston, VA: Teachers College Press. Read More