It’s been 21/2 years in the making and three weeks in the installing. “Fluent Steps,” a giant glass installation in the reflecting pool on the main plaza outside Tacoma’s Museum of Glass, is finally in place.
After seven months of delay, the work will be officially unveiled Saturday at a VIP donor party. But you can see it today.
“‘Fluent Steps’ is a truly transformative work of art for the Museum of Glass,” said director Tim Close. “This project has united all three components of MOG – the hot shop, exhibitions and the permanent collection.”
The work was commissioned by the MOG after Blank, a Seattle glass artist, suggested the idea during a residency there in 2007. The museum has recently begun building its own collection, and “Fluent Steps” will be a permanent installation. Previous works in the pool were Patrick Dougherty’s “Call of the Wild” from the museum’s opening in 2002 through 2004 and Warren Langley’s “Breathe” from 2004 through 2007. The pool, which is accessible at no cost, has been empty since then.
Initially intended for unveiling last fall, “Fluent Steps” was delayed because of its sheer size. The work consists of 754 individually hand-blown pieces of mostly clear glass, rolled flat and folded into a variety of shapes, and supported by brushed stainless-steel shafts in a variety of patterns along the pool’s 210-foot length.
It’s the biggest work Blank has ever done, and it took a team of 41 glass artists, engineers and architects to create. Most of the glass was blown during residencies at the MOG’s hot shop last year, while being partly assembled in a Puyallup Avenue studio. The 71,000 pounds of molten glass were installed over the last three weeks, with the pool refilled last Wednesday. Though the installation was challenging, only one piece of glass was broken, Blank said Thursday.
Crinkled, flamelike, flowery or bubbled, Blank’s glass shapes cluster in four main sections like an archipelago. The largest, “Cascade,” rises up to 15 feet above the pool’s surface, and is given line and depth by occasional pieces of earth-toned glass, reflected in the smaller “Echo.”
The central “Log” extends about 20 feet, its sections of glass formed around a real madrona trunk to create realistic bark texture.
“Wisps,” at the far end of the pool, are curving ribbons of flamelike glass set low into the water. At night the work will be uplit with white light.
Blank’s inspiration for the work was the movement of wind on a lake.
“The glass just picks up on the change of light there, it amplifies it like a lens,” said Blank. “It’s a dialogue on the emotive nature of water. It’s about how water transcends and transforms you.”
Inspired by “Fluent Steps,” Blank has also created smaller pieces for an exhibit at Traver Gallery, next to the museum. Small clear and gold glass pieces combine to form abstract landscapes, figure pieces, and wall-mounted waterfalls, says gallerist Sarah Traver. The work will be on display Saturday through May.
Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568
blogs.thenewstribune.com/arts
What: “Fluent Steps” art installation by Martin Blank
Where: Museum of Glass main plaza pool, 1801 Dock St., Tacoma
When: Official unveiling Saturday; museum open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. that day. Pool on view 24/7. Public celebration May 15
Admission: Free for outside area. Museum admission $10 adults; $8 seniors, military and children 13 and older; $4 children ages 6-12; free for kids 5 and younger
Also: Martin Blank at Traver Gallery, 1821 Dock St., No. 100, Tacoma; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. Sundays through May; 253-383-3685, www.travergallery.com
Information: 866-4MUSEUM, www.museumofglass.org, www.martinblankstudios.com
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