Lampworking is rock ‘n' roll. Not that corporate-MTV-boyband rock
‘n' roll, but the sawdust and spilt beer on the floor, stale smoke BO filled
dirty dark basement, ear-bleeding howling broken amp rock ‘n' roll. Furnace
glassblowers are the orchestral movement; choreographed and rehearsed, we
appreciate them in awe as they come together with grace and practise to produce
beauty. We do love the fused workers jazz creations as they layer colour on
colour, tone on tone, but we can't work that way. Spontaneity and individuality
are why we work alone to bring life our crazed obsessive visions that we can't
explain. We have to show and shout and smash and burn, to create.
In garages and dark unloved rooms we make our noise, thrashing and
practising at guitars or torches to learn how to express ourselves. Cuts and
blisters for both, and we continue through bleeding fingers as the music takes
shape. The language is the same; one talks of larger amps and mixers to make
bigger noise, the other bigger kilns and oxycons to make bigger glass. For one
it's a Stratocaster or Les Paul guitar, for the other a GGT or Herbert Arnold
torch; a blank tape or a clear rod of glass. To get them we play our cheap
battered instruments, busking in streets or flea markets, making what we have
to to pay for the creations in the back of our minds. These are not
middle-of-the-road melodies or Christmas tree trinkets, these are single minded
visions, drawn out of the darkest depths of our mind. There is no expectation
anyone will even understand us, so we carry on alone, hoping our peers and
idols might give a nod and say 'cool'. That's the only bread we have to keep us
going in the hope of finally getting a proper gig. A dive bar, a tired art
boutique at the wrong end of town, our first real gig, and the hope that it
will eventually lead to that football stadium or whitewashed gallery. Always
the fear that we'll burn out and give up before we reach our dream, and, if we
finally succeed, our inner vision has taken over and nothing is as important as
the next cool rift or lattachino.
And both are the only jobs where you HAVE to wear dark glasses
indoors. Rock on!
(Lampwork Manifesto - Copyright
Glenn Godden)
