Scottish Emerging Glass Artist Wins WCC-Europe Award 2008

Glass artist Geoffrey Mann has won the 2008 WCC-Europe Award for contemporary crafts.

Every year, since 1993, the WCC-Europe has carefully reviewed the merits of numerous artistic competitions and exhibitions held throughout Europe. After a rigorous selection process, the WCC-Europe honours one such competition and exhibition of international importance yearly, by awarding a prize to one participant in the chosen event.

In 2008 the WCC-Europe Board decided to chose European Glass Context 2008, a biennial symposium for European contemporary glass and ceramics which takes place on the Island of Bornholm, Denmark in September and October 2008.

Geoffrey graduated from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen in 2002, and then studied at the Royal College of Art in London.  In his work he transposes the ephemeral into the tangible by integrating digital media with physical form. 

The piece which won the award represents a solid trace issue of a bird taking-off.  It originated from stop frame cinematography of pigeons flying, allowing analysis of intermediary frames to create the sinuous passage of movement that the work narrates. The form becomes a 3D long exposure.

He then creates the forms using CAD software and materialise the pieces through Rapid Prototyping technology. The work is then molded and kiln cast to create objects that no hand or eye can envision yet alone create.

Originally realised in resin, which is shown in the photograph above, he created a version in glass at the Lhotsky glass studios for the exhibition, where he was also nominated as the UK emerging glass artist.

The criteria for the WCC-Europe award were fine original craftsmanship, choice of appropriate material for the object, originality and adherence to the theme of given exhibition.

In a statement the jury said “Geoffrey Mann’s objects convinced the jury how he could pick up a silent moment in time and translate this poetry into glass.
His kiln cast optical glasses are transmitting the feeling of lightness and the way the pieces correspond together.”

He has also recently had a piece acquired by MoMA New York for their Design and Architecture collection.