PHILIPP WEBER

Philipp Weber has re-appropriated a trumpet and employs it as a new tool for blowing glass?

Over the past 2000 years, very minor alterations have been made to the 1.5m long steel pipe used in the technique of glass blowing. Investigating the history of this process, designer philipp weber asked himself, 'What would happen to the glass, if the function of this tool radically change? Would craftsman be able to adapt to a new pipe?'

Weber observed that the device very much resembled that of a musical instrument, and decided to translate the mechanism of a trumpet into something used for blowing glass. Working together with an engineer, he created a new implement--developing an allegorical bond between craft and music. In collaborating with a glass blower in Belgium by the name of Christophe Genard, the designer encouraged him to use the revised tool, driving the craftsman to 'improvise' the shape of the glass, by playing the valves, forming the amorphous material from inside and activating different air streams. thus, the process of glass making became a performance.

“I draw my inspiration from cultures, their people and crafts, from literature and from music.
During my studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven I had the opportunity to get to know a variety of media and materials I can express my ideas with. I use this knowledge to tell and build stories my fantasy produces, in order to captivate an audience and to show a different access to a certain topic.

In all my projects, whether I work alone or in a team, I always set a high value on inspiring 'passion'. For me it is the element that makes for a truthful approach in my work."

Philipp Weber provides a stage for the drama and music he sees hidden inside the craft of glassblowing. He altered the glassblowers main tool, the blowing pipe, and developed an 'instrument' to manipulate the relation between the glassblower and his material. This changed the approach towards the material enabling the craftsman to shape the inner form of the glass using different valves on the pipe. The transformation of the tool stimulated a new working process and inspired the glassblower to improvise, provoking a performance of glass making.

'Strange symphony' by Philpp Weber is being showcased in the DMY berlin 2013 'new talents' program which recognizes the work of emerging designers, offering them a platform in which to exhibit their forward-thinking approaches and research based projects to the greater public.

This is the link to the movie:
https://vimeo.com/57160099

mail@philippweber.nl
www.philippweber.com