creation
making process
making techniques
From blob to drop
In 1997, inspired by old encyclopaedias, Bernard Heesen began making glass objects for his Encyclopaedische Gewrochten (Encyclopaedic Creations) series. Together with Arjen Duinker, he wrote a four part Encyclopedic Dictionary:
De Wereld van de Glasblazer, Encylopaedisch Woordenboek - experimenteel, chemisch, poetisch, filosofisch, historisch (The World of the Glassblower, Encyclopedic Dictionary - experimental, chemical, poetic, philosophical, historical), which was published in 1999-2011.
In part I of De Wereld van Bernard Heesen – Encylopaedisch Woordenboek (The World of Bernard Heesen — Encyclopedic Dictionary), Heesen includes an overview of different quantities of glass used in individual components. Terms such as snotje (booger), dropje (drop) and drupje (droplet) are defined with accompanying photographs.
An assistant must provide the glassblower with the required amount of glass in the appropriate form. Heesen devised various terms for this — such as snotje (booger), drupje (droplet), draad (thread) and klets (droop) — so that the assistant knows what to gather and how to present the first glass. In the production of Encyclopaedische Gewrocht, 1998 collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Heesen tells us: ‘the nipples on the beer mug: first a drop, then a blob.’
Bernard Heesen, Encyclopedisch gewrocht, 1998
