hot tools explorations in glassblowing at gallery libby sellers

‘stein’ by felix klingmüller

‘hot tools’ is an exhibition of glass works by production master students from ECAL, the university of art and design lausanne presented by london’s gallery libby sellers (GLS).

the pieces are a result of a workshop led by designer ronan bouroullec and glassblower matteo gonet, in which they were challenged to defy the conventions of glass making, pushing the boundaries of the material and the processes involved in its production. the participating students visited the studio of gonet, where they developed unique tools and utensils to  manipulate and create interesting effects within the glassblower’s creative process. resulting inventions took the form of wooden moulds, glass powder and copper, leather etc.

on show as part of london design festival 2012, ‘hot tools’ features the work of rita botelho, diane du chaxel, sarha duquesne, philipp grundhöfer, felix klingmüller, charles mathis, giulio parini and jung-cheng su and celebrates GLS’ first anniversary in a permanent space from its previous pop-up gallery status.

‘mould in motion’ by philipp grundhöfer

‘tension expansion’ by sarha buquesne

installation view of ‘hot tools’ at gallery libby sellers

up close view of ‘mould in motion’ by philipp grundhöfer

production process of ‘stein’ by felix klingmüller

left: ‘mould in motion’ by philipp grundhöfer right: ‘DIY mould’ by rita botelho