Swedish designer Jonatan Nilsson built his own machine out of sheet metal and wooden blocks to create the Shifting Shape series of glass vases, with jagged edges and undulating surfaces.
After unable to find enough glass blowing molds, Nielsen assembled his own machines to make each vase in the Shifting Shape series.
The Stockholm-based designer used a band saw to cut the shapes into wooden blocks, then stacked them in two piles in different forms, and then fixed them to the sheet metal structure on both sides.
Different pieces of wood can be fixed on the metal plate to provide different effects, because the wooden shape can provide the final appearance of the vase.
The door of the machine moves on hinges, allowing the user to slide the wooden shape back and forth. Once the door is closed, the wooden blocks are pushed together, but there is a hollow space between each stack.
It is this gap that inserts the hot glass block and blows it away. The designer created the final product together with experienced glass blowers.
Some have jagged, jagged edges, while others have stepped or wavy sides. The front and back of each container are flat and have a soft corrugated texture. Coincidentally, it looks like a natural wood grain imprint.
The designer explained that this effect is the result of glass blowing on the cold metal surface.
Nielsen explained: "Traditionally, the wooden mold blown into the glass can be used more than a hundred times, and always has the same shape." "I wanted to propose a process that can quickly change the shape, and finally proposed this machine."
“I like the unique shapes that can be obtained from blow-molded glass, and I want to create a way that allows you to get new molds without going through the time-consuming and expensive process of making new molds. Shapes.” He added.
Nielsen also wants to use the project to show how the manufacturing process can affect the outcome of finished products.
The designer said: “It is difficult to accurately judge the ending of the finished vase just by observing the outline formed between two wooden shapes.”
He continued: "I like the fact that there are some built-in chance factors during processing because it can make the shape in the finished glass unpredictable."
The vase gets its bright colors from glass color bars, which are heated in a separate oven and then attached to clear glass during the blowing process.
Just as the shape of each vase is irregular and unique, so are color combinations, some of which are deep purple paired with bright yellow, while others have a more subtle blend of tones ranging from orange to pink.
Nielsen had a two-week residency in the glass factory in Småland, Sweden, and collected about 20 different works. The height of each vessel is between 25 and 40 cm.
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Studio Joachim-Morineau in Eindhoven has also built its own industrial machine, which can replicate human error to make unique ceramics.
The device drips liquid porcelain at a certain rhythm to create cups and bowls with different forms and styles. It aims to combine technical precision with "burrs" to create similar but not identical objects.
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Post time: Jan-25-2021