The Binghamton University Art Museum will present the exhibition Bonds…Glass Bonds as the main gallery exhibition for the spring semester, February 2–May 13, 2023. The exhibition opens Thursday, February 2, with a public reception 5:00-7:00 pm, black tie optional. Bonds…Glass Bonds was curated by Dr. Marvin Bolt (Curator Emeritus at the Corning Museum of Glass and Research Fellow at Technische Universität Berlin), Dr. Gökhan Ersan (Associate Professor, Art and Design), and Dr. Pam Smart (Associate Professor, Anthropology and Art History), emerges from their collaborations in Dr. Ersan’s advanced graphic design course and from Dr. Smart’s interdisciplinary “Materials Matter” project. Bonds…Glass Bonds will present an array of objects manifesting the atomic bonds that constitute glass and the social bonds that glass enables. Throughout the exhibition space, triplets of objects will touch on the art and science of glass, as well as exemplify one aspect of bonds.
The exhibition features approximately 70 objects, a video component, and text and graphic panels for each object triplet. Visitors will encounter the composition, structure, and properties of natural and artificial glasses, view some glass production techniques, and actively engage with the diverse ways in which glass objects can be used to create social bonds. Throughout the exhibition, visitors will be encouraged to reflect on the role of glass in culture, past and present.
Generous support provided by IBM Endicott; a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for Promotion of the Humanities Teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development; and helpful assistance from the staff at the Corning Museum of Glass. Additional support from the Material and Visual Worlds Transdisciplinary Area of Excellence and contributors to the Binghamton Fund for the Museum.
Also opening on February 2 are four exhibitions in our lower galleries. Rhetorics of Documentary was curated by Tom McDonough, Professor of Art History and Adjunct Curator, in honor of the retirement of SUNY Distinguished Professor John Tagg. Also, three exhibitions curated by students are on view: Infinite Interpretations: A Multiplicity of Truths; Picturing the World in Early Modern Europe; and Watching the Clock.
All exhibitions are free and open to the public. For details on upcoming programming see our “Events” page + social media.
