This is an unintentional repeat of this post from 11 years ago.

The National Glass Centre has curated an exhibition to show the influence of international studio glass styles and techniques on the British studio glass scene. It features work representing the practice in thirty different countries.

Here are three objects that stood out.

This is Dancing Goblets, a 2021 work by Sacha Delabre. Delabre grew up in France and studied for a BA in Glass on the internationally renowned programme at Sunderland University. He now works at the Glass Hub down in Wiltshire.

I’ve previously seen the left-most of the three goblets exhibited on its own. I was taken by its surrealist form. Seeing these three pieces together brings out the dynamism of the dancing. They are wonderful.

I didn’t react as emotionally to this 2016 untitled work by Czechia’s Martin Janecký, but I was amazed. The detail and complexity of the large form seemed incredible.

My visit to the exhibition of work by Neil Wilkin and Rachael Woodman earlier this year taught me something about the challenge of working with glass. It is hard to comprehend how Janecký made such a detailed, lifelike form from such an uncompromising material.

Map of the World, diminished by Inge Panneels is a tiny 2023 work, perhaps only a couple of centimetres square. Slightly cheekily, this work apparently represented Belgium, Scotland and England on the basis that Panneels is from Belgium, taught in Sunderland and works in Scotland.

This stood out to me, combining the aspects I liked in the previous two works. It is surrealist: the practical map is rendered impractical through its tiny size. It’s also an astoundingly detailed representation of a familiar form rendered in an uncompromising material. It’s brilliant.

Glass World continues at the National Glass Centre until 10 March.

In the shower this morning, I noticed that my shower gel was inviting me to ‘unwind’, clearly meaning that I ought to relax. This got me thinking: what if I were to ‘unwind’ so far that I ‘came undone’?

I’ve always understood ‘come undone’ to be a slightly dated euphemism for developing psychiatric illness. It seemed strange that ‘unwinding’ would have such positive psychological connotations, while a superficially similar phrase would have such negative connotations in the same field.

Perhaps if someone ’unwinds’ too far, they fall apart? Perhaps it’s a hangover from dated social attitudes: when being ‘buttoned up’ was positive, ‘coming undone’ would be negative, but perhaps we’re all a little more suspicious of being reserved today?

Once I was out of the shower, I obviously reached for the dictionary. Don’t we all?

The OED reckons that ‘unwind’ in this sense is relatively new, first noted in 1958. Figurative words like ‘unbend’ and ‘slacken’ have a much longer history of usage, but I can see why they wouldn’t work quite so well on a modern bottle of shower gel.

To ‘come undone’ is a little older, from 1899, but doesn’t actually mean what I thought it did. It means something more like a reversal of fortunes: a good thing is done and then becomes undone. A previously well-performing horse suddenly loses a race, for example, or a previously successful plan falls apart. So when we talk of people coming undone, there’s nothing specifically psychiatric in that at all: ‘coming undone’ could equally mean losing a fortune, for example.

It would be fascinating to re-read whatever I’ve read in the past that has led me to this bizarrely incorrect interpretation… but I can’t think of any specific examples to reassess!

The image at the top of this post was generated by DALL·E 3.

Sixty years ago today, President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. I had yet to be born, but the occasion of the anniversary brings to mind my visit to Dallas five years ago.

I wrote at the time about how my mental picture of the area in which the assassination occurred differed markedly from reality, despite having seen it on screen countless times. I think about that from time to time, especially in those disorientating moments when my perception of a situation suddenly shifts.

I also often find myself thinking about the memorial, and in particular, how the emptiness and absence was the thing that made it so remarkably effective. A blank space can be more powerful than words. Silence can be more powerful than speech.

In my post at the time, I also wrote:

Would anybody really want such a focus on their death as opposed to their life? Why would anyone want to be remembered as the victim of their own murder, as opposed to being remembered for their lifetime of achievements?

And that, perhaps, is the strongest sentiment I associate with this anniversary. I think my loved ones know that I don’t mind what happens to me after I die, and that they should do whatever brings them the most comfort. What with being dead and all, I won’t really mind. But I have a strong aversion to being remembered for my death, or my death being marked in preference to my life.

This makes this post a bit hypocritical, I realise, but I hope that no one marks the 60th anniversary of my death. I mean, it’s hardly a problem I expect to have, I’m sure I’ll be long-forgotten. But I’d much rather be remembered in the context of my life than of my death.

During a single journey on the Metro yesterday, messages alerted Wendy and me to six problems.

Three of these directly impacted our journey:

• The service is suspended in both directions between Pelaw and Brockley Whins due to a vehicle striking a railway bridge on Network Rail infrastructure. Due to industrial action by Go North East, few buses are operating in the area. Customers may need to seek alternative arrangements where possible.
• The age of our current fleet means we are facing some challenges with train availability. This is impacting on today’s service.
• We’re aware that some of our trains are warmer than they should be at the moment and would like to apologise for any discomfort this is causing our customers. Our partners at Stadler have identified the issues are are working to resolve it.

Three did not:

• The lift at Monument between the platforms and the ticket concourse is out of use. If you require step free access, please use St James, Central or Haymarket.
• The lift on Platform 1 at Chichester is out of service. Customers requiring step free access are advised to travel on one stop and return via the other platform.
• During the canopy refurbishment works at Whitley Bay station, please could customers use the full length of Platform 1 to board the trains.

It’s a lot to process.