Svalbard, a mountainous Arctic archipelago of over 61,00sq Km, 60% glacier and just 10 degrees from the North Pole.
In October 2013 I was invited to participate in a three week creative residency programme, organised by the New York based arts charity The Arctic Circle, on board a traditionally rigged tall ship with 27 other internationally acclaimed artists.
"The Arctic Circle is a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, and activism - an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time."
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
How is it possible to comprehensively illustrate the 9th largest country in the world? Everything is mind boggling. Including the world's largest man made environmental disaster - the loss of the Aral sea. Consigned to a not so slow extinction, along with the towns, villages & people who used to make a living from it, all in the race to produce cotton
Chris Blade & Katya Filmus produced a series of iconic crystal glass stag head sculptures to crown new point of sale display gondolas, as part of a £1M re-branding exercise, for Glenfiddich. It is anticipated that up to 21 of these exquisite casts will be unveiled at major airports worldwide.
Ian Taylor, Global Marketing Manger for Travel Retail at William Grant & Sons said: "From the outset we wanted to create a piece that was far closer to art than to retail furniture. As the project progressed it became obvious that we needed to work with the very best glass team available, and that meant Katya and Chris."
The first Crystal Head graces Heathrow's Terminal 5 and is the 'jewel in the crown' of Glenfiddich's re-branded travel retail display. Other cast stag heads have been seen as far afield as Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, Frankfurt, Singapore, Chicago and many other airports. Keep your eyes open!
The primary sculpting was done at Windsor Workshops, London.
Each Crystal Head uses 50kg of the finest 45% lead crystal glass originating from Gaffer Glass in New Zealand. The antlers are made separately & bonded after the sculpture has received its final polish in hot hydrofloric & sulphuric acid.
The photos essay illustrates the production methods.
The Lost Wax process was selected as the most appropriate process for this project. Moulds are made using plaster & silica, reinforced with layers of wire. The glass is then melted into the mould in a kiln. It must then be cooled very slowly. For this project the annealing cycle was in excess of 6 weeks.
Photo essays of other casting projects may be seen by following links below:
'Arctic Vignettes', National Glass Centre, Sunderland
Chris Blade is Head of Commissioning & the Studio at the National Glass Centre and as a photographer has visited many remote corners of our planet. In October 2013 Chris was invited by the New York arts organisation ‘The Arctic Circle’ to participate in an extraordinary voyage, living on a barkentine tall ship and working alongside 26 artists from 14 countries. These images are a reaction to the landscape and traces of human existence on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, only 10° from the North Pole.
Dr. Karen Power, an Irish composer, was also on the expedition. She has a PhD in acoustic and electroacoustic composition from SARC (Sonic Arts Research Centre) and created a 12 minute, 6 track ‘soundscape’ for the exhibition.
Click the slideshow button to hear Karen's soundscape.
Giclee prints on 300g Fine Art Archival Paper. Most images are limited to an edition of 50 signed prints.
Please contact Chris directly at christopherjblade@gmail.com to discuss window mounts, delivery, etc. Delivery is usually around 10days.
As seen in the Guardian on 8th March 2014
This exhibition was generously sponsored by Rare Adventures Ltd:
“Adventure travel should open people to the geography, culture and spirit of unique and remote places. We are proud to sponsor this exhibition which beautifully captures the essence of the Arctic.” Greg Clark, Chief Executive, Rare Adventures Ltd.
Rare Adventures is a unique adventure travel company. Established to serve the UK Charity sector it provides global adventure travel and takes no profits from publicly raised funds.
Svalbard, a mountainous Arctic archipelago of over 61,00sq Km, 60% glacier and just 10 degrees from the North Pole.
In October 2013 I was invited to participate in a three week creative residency programme, organised by the New York based arts charity The Arctic Circle, on board a traditionally rigged tall ship with 27 other internationally acclaimed artists.
"The Arctic Circle is a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, and activism - an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time."
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
Svalbard, a mountainous Arctic archipelago of over 61,00sq Km, 60% glacier and just 10 degrees from the North Pole.
In October 2013 I was invited to participate in a three week creative residency programme, organised by the New York based arts charity The Arctic Circle, on board a traditionally rigged tall ship with 27 other internationally acclaimed artists.
"The Arctic Circle is a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, and activism - an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time."
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
Pyramiden was founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927. It lies at the foot of the Billefjorden on the island of Spitsbergen and is named for the pyramid-shaped mountain adjacent to the town. The nearest settlements are Svalbard's capital, Longyearbyen, some 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the south, Barentsburg approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-west and the small research community of Ny-Ålesund, 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the west.
Owned by the state-owned Russian mining company Trust Arktikugol, which also owns the settlement of Barentsburg, Pyramiden once had a population of over 1,000 inhabitants. It was abandoned on 10 January 1998. Until 2007, Pyramiden was practically a ghost town where, within the buildings, things remained largely as they were when the settlement was abandoned in a hurry.[1]
A book has been written about Pyramiden by Norwegian author Kjartan Fløgstad.[2] A recent episode of the History Channel programme "Life After People" featured Pyramiden. It predicted that due to the low rate of decay in a frigid climate, the abandoned town's major buildings would be visible 500 years from now.
The world's northernmost grand piano is located at Pyramiden; a "Red October" (Красный октябрь)[3] grand piano is located in the auditorium of the cultural centre.
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
Svalbard, a mountainous Arctic archipelago of over 61,00sq Km, 60% glacier and just 10 degrees from the North Pole.
In October 2013 I was invited to participate in a three week creative residency programme, organised by the New York based arts charity The Arctic Circle, on board a traditionally rigged tall ship with 27 other internationally acclaimed artists.
"The Arctic Circle is a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, and activism - an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time."
TV news review here
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative center of Svalbard, Norway. As of 2008, the town had a population of 2,040. Longyearbyen is located in the valley of Longyeardalen and on the shore of Adventfjorden, a bay of Isfjorden located on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Since 2002,Longyearbyen Community Council has had many of the same responsibilities of a municipality, including utilities, education, cultural facilities, fire department, roads and ports. The town is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. It is the world's northernmost town, and the northernmost settlement of any kind with greater than 1,000 permanent residents.
Known as Longyear City until 1926, the town was established by and named after John Munro Longyear, whose Arctic Coal Company started coal miningoperations in 1906. Operations were taken over by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK) in 1916, which still conducts mining. The town was almost completely destroyed by the German Kriegsmarine on 8 August 1943, but was rebuilt after the Second World War.
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. Located north of mainland Europe, it is about midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude.Spitsbergen is the largest island, followed by Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The administrative center is Longyearbyen, and other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research community of Ny-Ålesund and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. The archipelago is administered by the Governor of Svalbard. It is the northernmost place in the world with a permanent population.
The islands were first taken into use as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway. They also established Svalbard as a free economic zone and a demilitarized zone. The Norwegian Store Norske and the Russian Arktikugol remain the only mining companies. Research and tourism have become important supplementary industries, featuring among others the University Centre in Svalbard and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve inter-community transport.
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
A glass 'Tree of Life' was designed by Chris Blade for the waiting area of Age UK's head office in Sunderland. The sculpture was installed in the primary socialising room for many of the regular users of the organisation.
The leaves of the tree were produced by fusing two layers of Bullseye glass together. One layer was clear glas and the other was coloured. Once fused to create a single sheet of glass the leaves were cut out of the sheet using the large Water Jet cutter at National Glass Centre. It is intended that individual leaves will be engraved with the names of people who make financial donations to Age UK.
Chris is 'Head of Commissioning & the Glass Studio' at National Glass Centre, Sunderland.
National Glass Centre
University of Sunderland
Water jet cutting
Age UK, Sunderland
My day job is as a member of the University of Sunderland, specifically working as Head of Commissioning and the Studio at the National Glass Centre.
Here I manage a talented team of artists, and extraordinary well equipped production facilities for producing contemporary art glass and undertaking challenging bespoke commissioning. As a visitor centre we demonstrate glass production to over 200K people per year and deliver world class exhibitions in our galleries. The university has around 130 students studying glass at BA, MA & Phd levels.
Click here to see our production facilities.
"The Arctic Circle is a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, and activism - an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time."
Interactive map of Svalbard from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Participants included:
Claire Liberman, Karen Power, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Tom Snelgrove, Kate Puccia, Ari Belathar, Han Sungpil, Lauren Portada,Allison Cameron, Jolene Mok, Joyce Majiski, Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz, Diane Burko, Richard Ryan, Lisa Goren, Jane Isakson,Deborah Hamon, Hanna Campbell, Gisela Gari, Kinez Riza,Marlene Nicols, Kaisu Koivisto, Marianna Williams, Tina Kohlmann, Terry Adkins, Vincent Huang
4 weeks driving through Russia enabled visits to a number of fascinating places including Samara with it's impressive memorials & Stalin’s Bunker; Kazan with it's UNESCO site, churches & Mosque; beautiful Suzdal, the picturesque epitome of an old religious Russian town with 16 churches; Vladimir with it's gorgeous Cathedral; Moscow in all it's glory with a myriad of major & minor tourist attractions including Red Square, St Basil’s Cathedral, Kremlin, Lenin's tomb, etc; Novgorod & finally St Petersburg. A beautiful city founded by Peter the Great & boasting sights such as the Hermitage Art Gallery, which has a collection so large that reputedly if you looked at a work for 1 second 24/7/365 it would take 3 years to see! The Tsar's Summer Palace with its gravity fed fountains is a rare treat.
Contact christopherjblade@gmail if you are interested in photographs from any of these cities. A larger selection is available for commercial use.
This beautiful award was commissioned by the TSG group as an award for the Golf Club and Hotel Close House.
Weighing in at an impressive 12kg this 48% lead crystal award not only contains casts of golf clubs and balls, but even grass! One additional twist is that the glass is a neodymium glass meaning that it changes colour under different types of light. The images hear illustrate the same award and how the glass changes colour.
This project was project managed by myself and cast by Katya Izabel Filmus. Katya worked on a number of high profile casting projects with the Glass Centre and is one of the UK's leading glass artists and casters.
National Glass Centre
University of Sunderland
Katya Izabel Filmus
Close House Hotel & Golf
Following our success designing and producing glass sculptures and decorative wall panels for Newcastle based Royal Victoria Infirmary in 2011 and 2012, I was delighted once again to be invited by Sir Leonard Fenwick CBE to develop a concept for a large sculpture for the hospital's Ophthalmology Department, the Newcastle Eye Centre.
The Newcastle Eye Centre is one of the largest in the UK, treating and caring for over 100,000 patients each year. It is a regional centre of excellence treating all types of eye conditions in adults and children, both elective and emergency, as well as providing highly specialised and cutting-edge services.
Funded through the generous support of a local charitable trust, in August 2013 the 4.5 meter long sculpture was installed in the Eye Centre's primary reception area.
The sculpture is intended to reflect the role & expertise of the Centre, to reference individuality and the personal nature of each visitors treatment through the careful reproduction of a multitude of irises in different colours and patterns. Glass as a creative media was chosen due to its ability to transmit, refract and focus light in much the same way as the eye. The sculpture deliberately references eyes in a decorative way so as not to be overtly medical or intimidating.
The sculpture is composed of 175 individually hand made elements, bonded onto black anodised metal fittings echoing the eye's pupil and serving the dual function of wall anchor point. All the glass elements were made at the National Glass Centre, a part of the University of Sunderland, and were made at our furnaces by Kalki Mansell, one of our extremely talented Glass Studio Team.
RVI Wall Panels 2011 - Hospital Foyer
RVI Sculpture 2012 - NE Children's Hospital
The project was designed & project managed by Chris Blade MA (RCA) - Head of Enterprise, Commissioning and Glass Studio at the National Glass Centre, University of Sunderland.
The National Glass Centre Studi has produced a series of 9 glass wall panels for the foyer of the Royal Victoria Infermary Childrens' Hospital in Newcastle, NE England.
Glass Centre Studio team member Dr. Cathryn Wightman utilised her specialist water jet cutting skills to assemble the panels, rather like a jigsaw, from Bullseye glass. Elements were silk screen printed with glass enamels and then sandwiched between additional layers of glass and fused together in a kiln to produce the final resuly.
The initial drawings were made by young patients at the hospital.
the work was unveiled by Sir Leonard Fenwich CEO of the hospital.
A series of 5 annual awards were commissioned by Dulux, part of AxonNobel. They are produced from a solid cast glass block, filled with assorted colours representing different paints. The subdivision into three components represents first, second & third awards whilst retaining the concept of corporate unity.
Manufactured using 48% lead crystal Gaffer Glass from New Zealand & mounted on Cumberland grey-green slate by Burlington Stone.
The award was designed by Chris Blade and modelled & cast by Katya Filmus.
See the award being made here