Tag: glass sculptures

Chihuly Garden & Glass

The Humble Fabulist5 Comments

Enter the intricate, fragile world of Dale Chihuly – or, to be fair, the world of a small army of designers, glassblowers, sculptors and assemblers, working under the ”Chihuly” umbrella. Let’s take a moment to appreciate and recognize their work, even if we will never see their names in the credits.

It wasn’t the first time I saw a large ”Chihuli” exhibition, such as this. In October 2017, I had the chance to enjoy this immense work of glass making, in a truly magical setting: the New York Botanical Garden, in the Bronx. The gardens remained open in the evening and the sculptures, scattered all over the gardens and conservatory, were illuminated. The result was spectacular. There are several posts about that exhibition, the most popular being ”Into the Night”.

Seattle, WA

June 15th, 2018

 

Crazy electric hair

The Humble Fabulist10 Comments

Of all the glass sculptures in this exhibition, Neon 206 stands out as the craziest. Installed specifically to reflect on the Conservatory windows and the pool outside, it must be seen in the dark or else it would look just like a bundle of bent tubes (which is what it is). But at night it transforms into an explosion of light, the perfect backdrop for those playful shadowy portraits; snapshots of electric dreams.

With this neon light craziness, we bid farewell to the Botanical Garden and the magical world of Dale Chihuly. Next stop, Philadelphia…

Neon 206 (2017)

Chihuly Nights, New York Botanical Garden

October 14th, 2017

A walk down memory lane

The Humble Fabulist6 Comments

When lemonade was served in lace crystal glasses and sipped through grandma’s drinking glass straws. Those lean, sleek pastel coloured things of beauty that were kept locked only to come out when there were visitors – on Sundays mostly. Despite handling with care, they succumbed to their fragile nature, one by one, drink after drink. They were never replaced. It was the dawn of the 1970s and Tupperware had already taken Europe by storm since the 1960s. The plastic age had arrived.

Glow

White Tower with Fiori
Glasshouse Fiori

Chihuly Nights, New York Botanical Garden

October 14th, 2017

Of Blue Crystals and The Fountain of Life

The Humble Fabulist2 Comments

Of the perfect synergy between man and nature that makes it possible to create such exquisite, delicate, fragile things of beauty out of mere grains of sand.

Of the teamwork between artists, technicians, designers, gardeners, landscape architects and light engineers that made this exhibition such a success.

Of the New York Botanical’s readiness to replant large parts of the Gardens to complement the glass sculptures and make them look like they were grown together organically, in perfect harmony.

Of the way the sculptures glow in the dark and become alive, like mystical creatures.

Blue polyvitro crystals, 2016
Glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly in The Lillian Goldman Fountain of Life, 1905
Sapphire Star, 2010
Glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly

Chihuly Nights, New York Botanical Garden

October 14th, 2017