Take Flight Awards - Oliver Lo
What did you do for your Take Flight Award? What was the inspiration behind it?
I’m a huge fan of Blown Away, a glassblowing competition show on Netflix. Each episode, master artists tackle a creative brief by attempting show-stopping feats of glasswork under severe time constraints, the heat of the hot shop, and the pressures of working with a team of assistants. The competition is not unlike the demands designers often face working in a creative agency.
The Take Flight Award enabled me to live out my Blown Away fantasy of attending a week-long glassblowing intensive at the renowned Corning Museum of Glass in New York. By braving the hot shop, I hoped to get into the mind of a glass artist and learn how they harness creativity despite intense and exacting conditions. It turned out to be one of the most rigorous, yet enlightening experiences I've had.
What were some of the highlights?
As part of the course, students enjoyed private tours of the museum’s extensive collection. It was inspiring to learn about the history of glassmaking while being able to see up close glass objects from as early as Egyptian and Roman times to modern masterpieces by artists such as Littleton, LaMonte, Takosky, Libensky and Brychtova. The hands-on experience in the hot shop gave me a deeper appreciation for glassmaking and the artistic mastery required to breathe each of those pieces to life.
The camaraderie among our student cohort was another unexpected gift. It’s fascinating to witness nine really different people band together around a shared interest and a common goal of learning to blow glass. We all struggled to different degrees as we discovered how temperamental and difficult working with glass can be. Despite the failures and deep frustration, we were wholly invested in each other’s success. I felt constantly buoyed up by the atmosphere of respect, cooperation, and encouragement. Being back at work, I'm inspired to replicate this supportive environment with my teams by fostering a safe, collaborative, and fun atmosphere for creating and learning.
What insights did you take away from the experience?
Throughout the week, I found myself making mistakes, breaking a lot of glass, and comparing myself to the other students who seemed to be picking up skills faster than I was. I was feeling quite discouraged and defeated until my instructor and colleagues gently reminded me that failure is a natural part of learning any new skill. Once I embraced failure, I was able to let go and be present in the learning process instead of fixating on the outcome.
Glassblowing helped me see the power that embracing failure can have over the fears and frustrations that arise when I’m working on a creative brief. As we progress in our career, I think there's a danger of becoming so competent at our jobs, we forget to give ourselves permission to fail. I’m reminded that as creatives, our path to the final product is rarely linear. Mistakes are a necessary part of growth and learning. Dumb ideas are often stepping stones to great ones.
