Blow Harder: Alternative Lexicons for the Hotshop

A gray rectangle shows the pink silhouette of glassmakers’ jacks. Above the silhouette is the word, “Jills.”

A pink poster titled “Alternative Lexicons for the Hotshop” lists glassmaking terms divided into sections called, “Neutral,” “Feminist,” and “High Brow.” An “Expanded” section at the bottom leaves room for more.

Materials:: Social practice, etymology, language, inkjet print on paper
Dimensions:: 91.4 x 61 cm
Made:: United States, Alfred, Rochester, and New York, New York : 2018

Artist(s):

Peck, Suzanne: born: 1980; United States
Donnellan, Karen: born: 1986; Republic of Ireland

Selector Statement

Blow Harder: Alternative Lexicons for the Hotshop analyzes the sexually-charged language of American glassblowing. It deftly critiques the historically male-dominated hot shop by studying the vocabulary that has sprung from it. Peck and Donnellan’s proposal for alternative terms calls for a reckoning with the power dynamics, safety, and inclusivity of the glassblowing process.

–Lipman, Beth