哲学
Temperature Control
Japanese: 温度制御 — 表現の核
The central concept of kiln work is to design the temperature profile to control the glass's appearance.
Glass changes its form depending on temperature. It hardens, softens, flows, and changes color. When you get right down to it, the entire field of kiln work—which stems from glass fusing—can be described as the act of designing temperature profiles to control the expression of glass.
From this perspective, techniques that seemed disparate are connected by a single thread. Whether it’s slumping, casting, pâte de verre, or pot melt—they’re all variations on “how to manipulate temperature.” Rather than memorizing the names of techniques, focus on what state you want the glass to be in right now, and how to control the temperature to achieve that. That is the backbone of kiln work.
Temperature is not just a number. It is a “language” used to bring out shape, color, and texture through the malleability of glass. Mastering this language expands the freedom of expression. This course focuses on “temperature” because we believe that is where the essence of expression lies.
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Kiln work is the process of controlling the characteristics of glass by designing temperature profiles (how the temperature changes over time). Even with the same type of glass, changing the temperature profile alters everything—from cracking to color, shape, and structure.
The position taken in this paper is to focus on this “expression control based on temperature.”
This entry is written in Japanese by Rei Chikaoka and translated for readers outside Japan. If something reads oddly, the original is the source of truth.