Book Report: Bandhu Scott Dunham’s third volume is a sprawling treasure trove of flameworking data

Bandhu Scott Dunham's third volume on contemporary flameworking overflows with information, some of it incredibly useful, other somewhat offbeat.

Longtime fans of Bandhu’s “Contemporary Lampworking“ series of books will instantly devour this much-awaited third volume, chock full of color photographs (a first for the series) as well as demos, historical notes, rants, stories, and oddities. Newcomers to the series, or readers unfamiliar with Bandhu’s informal, indie style, will probably scratch their heads upon encountering, among other things, a recipe for imagawayaki pastries and step-by-step instructions for cooking sausages inside a borosilicate tube. But with its exceptionally wide array of topics, featuring contributions from an international stable of art and glass luminaries, Volume III combines the journalistic approach and immediacy of a periodical with much of the gravity and canonical authority of a textbook.

The first chapter, “Natural Inspiration,” discusses not only glass flora and fauna, but also touches upon the subtleties of proportion and abstraction. A real treat are three separate skull demos, by Christopher McElroy, Dina Kalahar, and Bob Snodgrass, complemented by a simple flower demo by Gianni Toso, a neon bird of paradise by Thomas Wendler, and a perfectly rendered dragonfly by Michael “Fig” Mangiafico.

Since Bandhu’s name is synonymous with fantastical glass engines and impossibly complex marble-coasters, the second chapter, devoted entirely to kinetic sculpture, is the undisputed highlight of Volume III and lasting proof of Bandhu’s legacy as a teacher, researcher, artist, and engineer. The wealth of information on constructing and troubleshooting jigs, joints, cranks, double cranks, loop-de-loops, vortexes, bearings, levers, axles, cams, followers, gears, and pulleys could have easily expanded to fill an entire volume or more. Sharing the stage with Bandhu is work by Marcel Duchamp, Fred Tschida, Andy Paiko, Lucio Bubacco, Ginny Ruffner, Paul Marioni, Carmen Lozar, Mark Zirpel, Banjo, Suellen Fowler, Brian Kerkvliet, David Licata, and a proud lineage of glass steam-engine builders and unsung heroes from the past.

The next two chapters, documenting Bandhu’s travels and field research in Europe, seem to take an odd turn but offer interesting information all the same. The Murano chapter features demos by Cesare Toffolo and Vittorio Costantini, who also give a firsthand account of the challenges they face living on the island and the difficulty of balancing art, business, tradition, and tourists. The Lauscha chapter is even more compelling because the village is far less visited than Murano and its artistic legacy less touted. Jurgen Kob, Walter Hellbach, Udo Wiefel, Falk Bauer—the glass masters whose demos anchor the chapter—are hardly household names but receive due recognition and exposure thanks to Bandhu’s efforts.

Though the chapters featuring the 2007 AGI (Art Glass Invitational) in Hilliards, PA, and the 2007 International Lampwork Fiesta in Kobe, Japan, read more like blog posts than textbook pages, demos by Matt Eskuche, Roger Parramore, Robert Mickelsen, Kimberly Jo Affleck, Brad Pearson, Kiyoshi Matsumura, Norikazu Kogure, and sugar sculptor Teiji Ishiwari are nonetheless enlightening and instructional. The final chapter, addressing health and safety in the studio, is written by Henry Grimmett of Glass Alchemy, Ltd., and offers practical and potentially life-saving advice.

—Miguel Unson