Comments on: Glassy works of art

Glassy works of art

ReiToei — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:24:04 -0800

How marbles are made. Video showing colored marbles being hand-crafted, layer upon layer, into miniature works of art.

By: Chunder

Chunder — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:58:20 -0800

Ooh - pop ups galore! Thanks! This sounds fascinating - but I'm not about to let a site spawn crap everywhere like that :(

By: jfuller

jfuller — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 03:52:31 -0800

Energy intensive! To end global warming we'll have to give up marbles. Hold onto the ones you already have, in the future they'll be as rare as scarabs from Egypt.

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 04:07:19 -0800

you just KNOW that guy makes most of his income off of glass bowls.

By: Sweetie Darling

Sweetie Darling — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 04:19:09 -0800

That's from the TV show "How It's Made," the new TV addiction at our house. Hockey sticks, organ pipes, Twinkies, sanitary napkins (!?) - they make it all look interesting. Slightly o/t, my husband's grandmother lives in a very small town in West Virginia that had a glass factory in it (now closed). We have a fascinating piece from there: a glass walking stick. It's absolutely beautiful but seems awfully impractical.

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 04:23:25 -0800

Chunder: It's on YouTube, as well. Interesting stuff!

By: substrate

substrate — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:31:57 -0800

Sweetie Darling, not true if your bones are brittle and glass like and you're bent on trying to find your physical antithesis. Somebody who's as unbreakable as you are breakable.

By: ReiToei

ReiToei — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:47:13 -0800

"Ooh - pop ups galore! Thanks! This sounds fascinating - but I'm not about to let a site spawn crap everywhere like that :(" Wow, my first post on MetaFilter and the first comment is a CBG-style flame! It's like some kind of internet cliché coming to life. Beautiful, in it's own way.

By: inthe80s

inthe80s — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:22:30 -0800

"Ooh - pop ups galore! Thanks! This sounds fascinating - but I'm not about to let a site spawn crap everywhere like that :(" There's a thousand and one different pop up blockers, even some made for crap-ware like IE. If you don't like pop ups, install something and stop whining. No one cares. ReiToei: excellent first post, I had no idea anyone even made hand blown marbles. Looks like I have a new show I'll need to program in my DVR.

By: sleevener

sleevener — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:29:58 -0800

Very cool! I've always loved marbles, & really got interested in the one-of-a-kind handmade ones a few years ago, before youtube and its uglier stepsisters were around. This is just exactly what I would have wanted to see, but never thought to look; thanks for posting!

By: Mach5

Mach5 — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:59:38 -0800

How It's Made is the third greatest import from Canada, the first 2 being ice hockey and Molson XXX. They show it twice a day on the Discovery Channel (and probably more on the Science Channel).

By: figment of my conation

figment of my conation — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 07:25:24 -0800

Now I want to take a glass blowing class. Cool link!

By: potus

potus — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 07:27:12 -0800

mmmm. hot glass is like an ice cream cone. You can't be distracted for one moment or it'll be ruined. such a zen kind of medium. thanks for posting this.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 07:48:35 -0800

Mach5 writes "How It's Made is the third greatest import from Canada" Not only a great show,they've managed not to screw it up despite several seasons.

By: Phantomx

Phantomx — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 07:49:55 -0800

Canada!! Duh, I wondered why the show was obviously made perfectly for dual language. Part-French Part-English. Man I'm dense. I like How It's Made but the shots showing the product off in front of the factory or whatever with the camera sweeping from side to side staying centered on the pedastalled product just crack me up. BEHOLD!!! THE U-SHAPED FLOURESCENT TUUUUUUUUUUUUUBE! heh

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:19:04 -0800

I love that the producers of "How It's Made" chose an Olympic gold-medalist swimmer to narrate the first season of their low-budget industrial educational show. It seems very Canadian, though I can't pinpoint why.

By: Trochanter

Trochanter — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:27:32 -0800

Speaking of cool work in glass, Dale Chihuly does some.

By: django_z

django_z — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:31:05 -0800

Great video...absolutely mesmerizing. Thanks posting this. Hmm...I wonder how much those marbles cost? They're lovely.

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:42:02 -0800

What a delightful post! I had students gathered around my monitor, watching how marbles are made, as none of us knew. Thank you, ReiToei!

By: balzac

balzac — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:45:07 -0800

Wow, my glass pipes and bongs sure had a lot of love given to their creation. Big ups to glass blowers!

By: dcjd

dcjd — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:09:34 -0800

Amazing, the video showed 6 layers being incorporated into that marble! I too wonder how much they sell for.

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:00:01 -0800

To end global warming we'll have to give up marbles. Nonsense, all the Metafilter flaming shaped my marbles round and firm.

By: deathofme

deathofme — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:32:38 -0800

I love "How It's Made" and glass marbles! Some of the most beautiful objects I've ever seen were lampwork glass marbles. With the combinations of colors swirling against each other, they can have a seemingly endless depth in which to peer. Take a look through here and here, or just google for some of the artists listed on this wikipedia page. It might be best to stay away from the ebay, though. :)

By: ScotchLynx

ScotchLynx — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:57:43 -0800

why isn't he wearing gloves omigod

By: ajshankar

ajshankar — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:13:22 -0800

Terrific. Though I imagine that the "more complicated" marbles that were handmade in this video can be made with a machine as well... I remember playing with several as a kid, and they were pretty cheap to obtain.

By: Muddler

Muddler — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:38:58 -0800

How It's Made is the third greatest import from Canada, the first 2 being ice hockey and Molson XXX. SHATNER - you forget Shatner...

By: No Mutant Enemy

No Mutant Enemy — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:35:46 -0800

And for the dark side: how marbles are destroyed.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 04:09:10 -0800

Shiny beauty. Balls. Shiny rolling balls. Must own!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 09:45:21 -0800

Awesome. Great video. Totally enjoyed that. I love transparent, colored glass! So beautiful.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:20:38 -0800

And for the dark side: how marbles are destroyed. So that's how they make cocaine.