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Weekly Online LessonOnline Lesson ArchivesGrade Level: 7-12
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Chihuly in Jerusalem
On October 3rd, 1999, renowned glassblower and sculptor Dale Chihuly opened his
year-long millennium exhibition at Jerusalem's Tower of David Museum with the unveiling of
a 64-ton ice wall. The wall, which measured 40' long by 12' high, quickly melted away in
Jerusalem's heat and had toppled within 3 days. Israeli engineers designed a special
platform that pumped water melting off the sculpture to irrigate the nearby hillside.
Chihuly said he hoped visitors would see the dripping monument as a metaphor for peace between Arabs and Jews. "If they come here and just see it as ice from Alaska, as these great crystal blocks that melt, that's wonderful too," said Chihuly.
Palestinian artists criticized the wall as an uninformed political message.
"It's a kind of political propaganda for the Israelis and their history in this land,
and they wipe out any history for us and other people here," says Sliman Mansour of
the League of Palestinian Artists.
The controversy lasted no longer than the wall itself; Chihuly's other glass works remain on display to international acclaim. In this online lesson you will learn more about Dale Chihuly and the Jerusalem 2000 exhibit.
Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000
Visit the Chihuly Web
site and go to the Jerusalem 2000
exhibit link. Immediately you will see a picture of Dale and two of the works on display.
Begin by clicking the Jerusalem
Wall of Ice link to view pictures and read about the installation. Click Daily Images to see two
more pages of Ice Wall photos. What are your impressions of the wall? How would you
respond criticism of Chihuly's political message?
The Ice Wall was an introduction to the Jerusalem 2000 exhibit. Follow the Exhibition Images link to reach the main exhibition menu. Begin by reading the Exhibition Overview; scroll down the page to view the images and read the introduction. Now go back and visit the pages for each work on display. The countries indicated next to each link tell where the work was created.
If you are using a computer with QuickTime installed, you can see panoramic
(360°) views of the works from the Glasswork magazine
site. Click the individual links to open the viewer, and then pan around the image using
your mouse.
If you'd like to see how these works were installed (assembled at the site) go to the Installing the Exhibition page and choose from the menu items listed.
If you'd like to see more works of Dale Chihuly, go back to the main Chihuly.com page and click the Selected Works link. Here you can view GLASS, DRAWINGS, and INSTALLATIONS.
Glass Works
The sites you've visited show how extraordinary glass can be with a
master's touch, but they don't give much information about the art and science of
glassmaking itself. 
For this you can visit Glass Works:
The story of glass and glass-making in Canada. Start with What is Glass
and learn about the elements used to create molten glass. How is it that glass, which
seems solid, is really a super-cooled liquid? Next, learn about the history and techniques
of making
glass.
Another site with excellent glass and glassmaking information is the Corning Museum of Glass. Go to the Education Resources page and click A Resource for Glass. There are many articles to choose from, including history- and science-related topics. One topic you won't want to miss is Glass and the Space Orbiter about space shuttle windows. Visit Corning's Glossary of Glassmaking Terms if you need help with a quick glass definition.
Glass Encyclopedia
Strength,
color, translucence, and other properties of glass are determined by many factors. To
learn about many of these kinds of glass, visit the Glass Encyclopedia. On the left are
dozens of links to glass topics. Try any links that sound interesting. For example, click Arts and Crafts
glass to read a short article about the Arts and Crafts movement in
glasswork. Dale Chihuly is mentioned in the article about Contemporary glass.
In consideration of the previous week's lesson on radiation, be sure to read the article on Uranium glass. This type of glass is radioactive, but is it harmful?
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Learners Online, Inc.