@Shellbell and I were very fortunate to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit under the Seattle Space Needle yesterday. I was blown away (pun!) the moment we walked in … here’s just a few pics.
14 Likes
I have always wanted to see this! I have been to Seattle a number of times but my busy business schedule didn’t allow it. I regret not making the time,. Thanks for sharing.
1 Like
Are the ceiling panels glass? Or pictures of the glass? Looks awfully flat to be the actual glass, so I’m curious.
I believe that they are actual glass. My dentist has a stained glass ceiling in his waiting room. It was probably poured that way. Note the steel rod in the middle to support the glass’ weight.
I went a few years back and it was an awesome exhibit… To hear more about the kind of art he does check out this set on youtube or just search for Chihuli over Venice…
1 Like
The ceiling in that exhibit is clear glass that then supports all the various glass art above it.
1 Like
The disks are blown glass that is flared out into a platter shape. I’d bet that there is a thick clear glass pane between the ground and the platters, to prevent people from tossing crap up that might damage the installation or cause one to fall. Those suckers are HEAVY, as molten glass tends to want to be a quarter inch thick, and chihuly platters are usually 2-3 feet in diameter. If one fell on you? Not pretty….
1 Like
It makes sense that the actual glass pieces are installed above a glass ceiling. Hanging each one of those (and they look Big) in such a way that they didn’t sway or fall would be a significant effort.
The name for the glass “platters” is Rondel. they are made by Blowing a globe on the end pf a pipe. This is transferred to a Punty, or solid rod where the foot of the piece is on the Punty, and the lip, the opened end, is now heated evenly down the wall. When the piece is moving freely, it is pulled from the heat, and spun, causing the glass to stretch out and thin across the piece. Sometimes the artist allows the glass to fold into flutes as it is cooling. Fascinating to watch.
1 Like
Yes, glass blowing demos are the BEST.
His work is remarkably durable. It’s made with boro glass which is basically pyrex. It’s very hard to break.
There was an outdoor exhibit at the Dallas arboretum back in 2018 when that massive hail storm came through and only one piece was damaged!
1 Like
I haven’t been to the Dallas Museum of Art since the pandemic but they had a wall of Chihuly glass platters which may well still be there.
[Hart Window - DMA Collection Online]
My mom has seen pretty much every Chihuly exhibit and was so in awe of glasswork she took week long classes at Corning Museum of Glass in NY. Classes were wicked expensive but she loved every minute of it.
Very true, most shops use Soda-Lime glass since it is easier to work. So it is even more impressive the Chihuly pieces are Borosilicate. Much higher heat to work with.
While there they said they use about $200k in gas per month. Each studio uses about the same gas at 10 homes per hour.
1 Like