Aloys F. Gangkofner, Waldsassen

Photo: Private archive

FREE-BLOWN GLASS OBJECTS

- - -The rediscovery and use of old glassmaking techniques was of great importance to Aloys F. Gangkofner. In 1952 the Lamberts glassworks in Waldsassen allowed him to experiment and work there. It placed not only the glassworks but also the glassmakers at his disposal. Gangkofner knew how to make the glassmakers so enthusiastic that they forgot about the extraordinary efforts demanded of them and the loss of their free time. This feeling of belonging together was built up over a period of many years. The unique vessels could come about only in this way. A fleeting sketch of the form on the blackboard, often only on the wall of the furnace, was enough for the glassmakers to recognize what Gangkofner wanted. In this context Ludwig Vorberger must be mentioned in particular; he contributed greatly to the collaborative work through his quick grasp of the project and his skill at glassmaking. The glassmaker was responsible for inflating the glass, Gangkofner for the forms. Techniques that were difficult to execute at the Lamberts glassworks would be tried out at the furnace of the Technical College for Glass in Zwiesel. Aloys Gangkofner worked in this way too at the furnace of the Hesse Glassworks in Stierstadt. Not only free-blown glass originated here but also his prism module, which he used in his freelance works. His sure sense of form, his knowledge of old glassmaking techniques, and his mastery of the material glass led to the realization of his formal ideas. His ties to the craft of glassmaking were always tangible.

Aloys Gangkofner’s free-blown vessels caused a great sensation in the 1950s. They were purchased by museums and collectors, and shown in exhibitions in Europe, the U.S., even in India through the Deutscher Kunstrat (German Arts Council). The numerous print critics were at times wild with enthusiasm. Many objects did not return from exhibitions, were broken, or were given away.

Thanks to Ambros Hofmann, subject teacher at the Technical College for Glass in Zwiesel for the technically correct labels.

Technical College for Glas, ca. 1960, H 59 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Description of air twist sterms technique, Technical College for Glas, Zwiesel, 1959

Photo: Private archive

Air twist sterms technique, Technical College for Glas, Zwiesel, 1959, H 56.5 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Hesse Glasworks, Stierstadt, 1963, H 45 cm, 53.5 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Spun, oval, cut, Hesse Glasworks, Stierstadt, 1960,  Ø 57 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Left: Applied spun threads, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, ca. 1954, H 66 cm
Center: Opal threads spun onto the shaped glass, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, ca. 1954, H 45 cm
Right: Applied and marvered bands to form the parison, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1959, H ca. 28 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulver

Base glass with small bubbles, applied threads, torn, spun and folded, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1953, H 12 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Base glass with bubbles, randomly applied thread, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen 1952, H 25 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Base glass with bubbles, applied threads, spun, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1953, Ø 50 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Left: Applied threads, torn, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, ca. 1959, H 31,5 cm
Center: Applied spun threads, torn, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1953, H 34,5 cm
Right: Applied spun threads, torn, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1953, H 30 cm

Photo: Wolfgang Pulfer

Greyish-blue, above cut and folded, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1952, H ca. 45 cm

Photo: Elfriede Vondran

Base glass with small bubbles, randomly cut, spun, slightly folded, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1952, H ca. 15 cm

Photo: Elfriede Vondran

Threads spun on to the shaped glass, ceased, Lamberts, Waldsassen, 1952, vase H 43 cm, pitcher H 52 cm

Photo: Walter Müller-Grah

At the glass kiln in Waldsassen

Photo: Private archive

ALOYS F. GANGKOFNER WRITES ABOUT
HIS OWN WORK IN 1953

in “Glas im Raum. Zeitschrift für veredeltes Glas”, German glass magazine, Stuttgart

- - -“Glass: Made from earth by fire into an independent material and endowed with form and life by the breath of men. In this way it becomes visible to us, from the soft and the malleable, it becomes set into a document of thought turned into action. This process for me is always a new likeness and revelation of the elemental and primordially creative. The very special qualities of the material ‘glass’ demand that the creator of glass know them intimately. Just as a person thinks in the language  in which he was raised, it is also necessary for the creator of glass to exist in a clear harmony with the material ‘glass’.”

At the glass kiln in Waldsassen

Photo: Private archive

“In both areas, the artisanal and the industrial, we must be aware of the essential characteristics that distinguish the one from the other. The industrial product, which can certainly be well formed, needs to meet the demand for appliances or objects in general use by everyone. But it never displays  the naturalness of something formed by hand. The task of the artisanal product are to shape suitable material and various techniques into a living and unique form.”


“This raises the question: Why should there be artisanal production at all when outstanding industrial products are available, which meet almost all practical demands and are less expensive to produce? I view this living artisanal creation as more necessary than ever. People today, specialized down to the smallest detail, have become slaves to their everyday burdens. Should they be surrounded only by impersonal, functional things? This is the task of the artisan who creates responsibly: to overcome the merely functional, to find a high expressive power and to bring diversity to life once again.”