GLASS OF 2007

By Samantha Nicholas

It all started with glassblowing legend Bob Snodgrass. He was the visionary artist who first experimented with clear borosilicate (or Pyrex) by adding powdered metals, thereby creating "color-changing glass." Pipes like these had never been seen before. They were clean, eye-pleasing and delivered superior smoking satisfaction. When vendors began hawking them on the Grateful Dead tours of the early '90s, thousands were snapped up. However, the emergence of glass smokeware represented more than just a shift in stoner habits. The Snodgrass discoveries opened a Pandora's box of innovation, artistic excellence and legal peril.

Marbleslinger is a top glassblower and documentary filmmaker who has observed the glass-art scene for the past decade. "There wasn't a large population of youth culture making metal, wood and clay pipes prior to Bob Snodgrass," he says. "There weren't 5,000 kids carving designs, signing their names on them and selling them. Headshop owners carried mass-produced paraphernalia and imports. There weren't a lot of handmade products. But the glass phenomenon changed everything. In no time, hundreds, then thousands of independent artists were sitting down and producing handmade pieces, one at a time."

Marbleslinger is in the midst of finishing his documentary on glass artists, tentatively titled Degenerate Art, and has interviewed well over 100 blowers. What he sees on the paraphernalia landscape is far more profound than just pretty pipes.

"I can't get a clear picture of how many of us there are," he says. "My guess is around 10,000. Some say even more. So my question is, why is this happening? How is this happening?"

Well, it probably started with the basics. People like smoking marijuana out of glass better than anything else. "Yeah, that's true, but it's deeper than that," he says. "People bought these little pipes and treasured them and channeled their energy into them. The next step was the people who used and liked them began to make them. Then they wanted to make them more special because the pieces became a part of special experiences with friends and lovers. They become objects - objects of ceremony. But now you have an entire subculture of youth who are devoting expression to blowing glass pipes that are undeniably works of art.

"Think about it: There are pipes that actually sell for $5,000. The most functional pipe you could ever possibly need in your lifetime should probably only cost $200. Yet people are buying these incredibly expensive pieces, these expressions - and they still want them to be pipes. What I've observed is that a pipe like this connects one to a culture. The pipe becomes a symbol, a form of cultural expression. The art and decoration actually create a shrine far outweighing the piece's function. There's something going on way beyond smoking. Why else would an artist put so much decorative art and energy into a piece?"