Pilchuck Auction Centerpieces
Glass ~15"x15"x15"

A series of glass centerpieces designed for the 2012 Pilchuck Glass School Auction. More than one hundred of these centerpieces were produced by the remarkable Poleturners Local Union 1201 in just two weeks.

These large amorphous objects were designed with multiplicity in mind. Using a unique process each centerpiece is made by first building a scaffold of randomly placed glass protrusions on a central bubble. The final shape is ultimately created by submerging the entire shape into molten glass. The hot glass flows in and around the core shape forming an exterior surface determined by heat, gravity, centrifugal force and surface tension. The resulting shapes blur the line between made and unmade, human and organic.

These centerpieces highlight the exuberant qualities of glass, the collaborative nature of glass making process, and are emblematic the experimental and orthodox methods of the early Pilchuck workshops in the 1970’s .