118

Glass has a memory—it holds onto shapes it was exposed to while still molten. 118’s dozens of tiny feather-like forms, in either opal or coloured glass, arise from this uncanny ability. When lit from within, the interior complexities of 118 come into even sharper detail.

The undulating interior layer of each 118 carries the ghost of the steel cage used in its formation. Air blown into its core pushes the molten glass into the recesses of the cage. Gravity and heat coax these unpredictable, multifarious tendrils to elongate, following the initial shape the steel has set for it. That cage, sheared off in a final step, is cleaned and used to seed another 118.

From the weather outside our workshop, to the glassblower’s mood, to the chemical composition of the glass, each 118 takes form in response to numerous uncontrollable factors and exists in a multiple of one.