Facotory Tours

I have been having issues with internet access which is why I haven't written in a while. I also am unable to post pictures so my blogs will be without visual aids from time to time. Enough with the excuses, let's talk about the factories.
There are many factories and studios in the region, hence the title of my blog referencing the “Kingdom of Crystal.” The three main factories are Orrefors, Kosta, and Afors. I have been on tours of all of them and I loved it. It was interesting to see glass mass produced by machine, by hand, and in some cases by both. There are three factories in the branch; Orrefors, Kosta, and Åfors. Orrefors is my favorite of the three. Maybe because it is the biggest and you feel impressed just by walking through the door. And they have robots making a lot of the work, even carrying pieces to the annealers. It was incredible. Unfortunately they will not allow people to take pictures of that part of the factory, they don’t even let the public in there. Fortunately I got to see it in person. Kosta produces mainly wine glasses and other large vases. Afors does more sculptural pieces and a lot of Bertil Valien’s work. The day that I was there they were making loads of small heads that were interesting to see being made.
The equipment in the factories was really impressive. The designs of the equipment are revolved around being convientient to use and making the workers comfortable. Though I think that no matter what it is hard and arduous to work in a factory setting. A lot of the workers will be at their stations sitting down. Most of the work benches have chair backs on them. The furnace doors are operated by foot pedal. There are doors on the glory holes that close almost completely minus a small opening for the pipe to fit through. They open and close by foot pedal also. The molds are in stations that are set into the ground, so that the workers don’t have to stand on anything, they just drop the glass into the floor. Foot pedals are also used to open and close the molds and to water down the molds after the glass is out. I thought that was pretty cool.
I was never interested in learning how to make tools or build equipment before, and I don’t really know if that is something I would ever be strong at. But being here has made me see what innovative design can make possible. Even if the goal isn’t to mass produce, being able to design tools and equipment is important.
I like the mentality of the glassblowers here. It is my impression that when working with glass their actions are fueled by what makes sense. I’m not saying this isn’t true at home, but it is different. Since the people that I have been working with have factory backgrounds they have a great understanding of the material, and they wouldn’t use the material in a way that wouldn’t make sense. I think that I have more of an art making background, and I have been working with the material in an opposite way, I try and bend it to my will. It has been an interesting contrast to deal with and see day to day. Does that make any sense?