Glass Artist of the Month - Marbleslinger

Every month, we profile the top artists of the glass smokeware industry. For past glass artists, visit the HIGH TIMES Glass Artist of the Month archive.

Marbleslinger was living in the Northeast, far removed from what was happening in Oregon, the unofficial glassblowing capital of the US, when he was introduced to the “color changing” glass pipe. At that time, a pipe like this couldn’t be bought in a store. Those who had them treasured them. He became infatuated with these glass pieces and wondered who made them and how they did it.

He graduated from Ithaca College in 1997 with a degree in documentary film production, but glass still intrigued him. He began making small, simple glass pipes influenced by friends who’d visited the West Coast. “After a few months of diligent work on the torch,” he recalls, “I attended a Phish show, sold my first pieces, returned home and quit my job at a restaurant.”

That winter he moved to Seattle. Once ensconced on the West Coast, Marbleslinger was initiated into an underground world of artists, far bigger than he’d ever imagined. A motley crew of characters, far removed from the mainstream, was pioneering new styles and techniques of working glass. Their work reflected the culture producing it: Bright, colorful, intricate, and psychedelic. Each piece was an expression of freedom – freedom to think for yourself and live on your own terms. As pieces became more intricate and refined, price tags began to top $1,000. “I realized that this wasn’t just a fad,” Marbleslinger recalls. “It was a full-on movement!”

Glass pipe-making has its own styles, conventions, language, ethics, and socio-political connotations. However, the movement had legal issues to deal with, too. Although many artists classify their pieces “for tobacco use only” or solely “works of art,” the federal government’s broad definition of what defines “drug paraphernalia” makes all pipe-makers and people in the industry of selling glass pipes potential criminals.

In 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft took advantage of the federal law and launched Operation Pipe Dreams, raiding and arresting major distributors. The industry was shaken, but the movement continued to grow, expand and strengthen. The elimination of a few big companies hardly stopped the movement. If anything, the busts confirmed that there was a political dimension to the artists’ work. Their art represents a protest of unjust laws, a declaration of the right to free speech and expression.

At about this time, Marbleslinger saw Style Wars, a documentary about graffiti culture. Made in 1982 in New York City, the film documents graffiti in the golden era of subway writing. It covered kids “vandalizing” trains with their names and how the culture spread worldwide. (Many of the young graffiti kids in the film are now recognized artists who exhibit in top galleries.)

Marbleslinger saw many parallels between graffiti and pipe-making culture. “Essentially,” he says, “Graffiti is done illegally and considered a form of vandalism, no matter how pretty it may be. The same goes for pipes. Despite an entire art movement fueling the industry, the Feds have labeled pipes as ‘paraphernalia.’”

However, graffiti is done in public spaces; pipes are created behind the closed doors of warehouses, garages, and basements. Marbleslinger says, “Often, our art is hidden away in head shops and private collections. I believed that, if the world knew about this incredible community of rebel artists, it would be allowed to grow and mature without boundaries.”

Marbleslinger made it his mission to document pipe-making culture in a well-informed, comprehensive film. In 2006, with the help of private investors, he traveled across the US gathering footage, interviewing over 100 people, including pipemakers, collectors, shop owners, distributors, color manufacturers, and raw material distributors. The result was Degenerate Art (available on DVD, Blu-ray, iTunes, and Netflix), which tells the story of glass pipe-making from the origins of the "color-changing" pipe, to the radical emerging art movement it has become today. Glass pipemakers comprise one of the last true underground American scenes – and Marbleslinger is honored to be a member. Check out his work.

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This Sherlock, created in 2012, is titled "When I die, bury me in a headshop.” (Colors: Jade Green X Krushmore Mint)

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"Harajuku Lovers" is a C.U.P. (Contemporary Undercover Pipe), an actual bubbler inspired by Marbleslinger’s travels to Japan. (A 2012 collaboration with SLOP of Japan)

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Audrey Hepburn inspired the Sherlock titled "Breakfast at Spliffany's." (2012)
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Ominously named "It's the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine,” this hand-spun tube was made just before the end of the Mayan Calendar. (Colors: Unobtainium x Sublime)

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This ornate 2012 hammer has been tagged "Heart of a King, Blood of a Slave.” (Collaboration with Kuhns using blown glass, silver fume, electroformed copper, and cubic zirconians)

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“The Queen is Dead" hammer features ancient Egyptian overtones. (Colors: Double Amber Purple, Strawberry Mansions, and silver fume; 2012)

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Inspired by the economic recession, Marbleslinger created "When it Rains, it Pours,” using the Morton “Assault” Girl image. (Dry hand piece; 2012)

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