Avatar
Artist information:
Jason Mack Glass Tidal Wave
Bloomington, IL
Text voting ID: Tooltip
Up: vote27771
Down: vote27770
Jason Mack Glass Tidal Wave is showing at:
The B.O.B. The B.O.B.
20 Monroe Ave Nw
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
View profile
Jason Mack Glass Tidal Wave
Artist bio: Jason holds a BS from Illinois State University where he studied sculpture and art history. In the summers of 2003 and 2004 he traveled to Italy to continue studying the Italian language and art of master glassblowers on the island of Murano.

When I first melted glass at age 17, something just clicked...and I have been experimenting with it ever since. This year, I built my furnace on golf cart wheels because I wanted to go places with it. It can melt over 1000 beer bottles in 6 hours. What I do with the liquefied glass depends on the site. I like to combine the glass with everyday objects. Glass is usually fragile and precious, always subject to being destroyed, but in it's molten state it becomes the destructive force.
Artist statement: Life and people are always in flux and I want my art to reflect this trait. As the windings spin, they grow and expand as we add glass, layers can be added indefinitely. I try to create art that has the ability to bring people together, artwork that involves and connects people with the creation. Above all, I hope my work offers a unique and exciting experience for people…
About the work:
Title: Live Hot Glass Installation

Art form: 3-D, Performance

Medium: Glass, steel, light

Year created: Work not created yet

Description of work: The windings are large glass sculptures that are made on site by wrapping threads of hot glass around a rebar armature. I am not sure what I am going to do for artprize yet...maybe a winding or something with the shopping carts. I'd like to find some old steel milk crates and do something with those. Depending on the size of the piece, it takes anywhere from two days to one week to complete.

Everyone please bring bottles! The more glass we receive the bigger the sculpture gets...

At 2100F the glass takes on the consistency of honey. For windings, the glass is gathered up on the end of a steel pipe and brought to the spinning armature to be wrapped. On many of the other sculptures the glass is ladled onto the piece.

Our mobile furnace, Frankie DaVoid, runs on one tank of propane per day. It can also run on natural gas or methane.

Propane donated by Hick's Gas.

Work statement: The building of a sculpture is an event. The glass bottles and jars get broken up and shoveled into the furnace. The labels, caps, backwash, cigarette buts, spaghetti sauce, baby food, whatever remains of the contents gets burned away and out comes a crystal-like substance. The community helps build the work and becomes a part of the work.



Technical details:
Work width: n/a
Work height: n/a
Work depth: n/a
Required venue ceiling: n/a
Required venue door height: n/a
Required venue door width: n/a
Required wall linear footage: n/a
Required venue square footage: n/a
Additional considerations:
Audio/video needed: No
Electrical needed: Yes
Lighting needed: No
Internet access needed: No
Ground floor access needed: Yes
Indoor space needed: No
Outdoor space needed: Yes
© 2009-2010 ArtPrize Grand Rapids, Inc.