Banjo Glass merges psychedelic beauty and functional design to craft mesmerizing art pieces that capture the attention. Ranging from interdimensional biomechanical deities to iconic pop culture sculptures, each piece from Banjo Glass is truly spectacular.
Gura and Bollman trace the development of the brass-movement banjo from its African roots through to its widespread acceptance as a symbol of middle-class American gentility.
Psychedelic Beauty
Functional glass art may have originated in the outlaw culture of marijuana paraphernalia, yet is rapidly gaining acceptance within fine arts circles. Artist Banjo’s intricate, psychedelic pipe sculptures evoke both fine art and countercultural themes in an unexpected yet beautiful manner – showing an increasing willingness among fine art world members to explore avenues once ruled by drug culture. His Sacramental Vessels exhibition now being shown at Gregorio Escalante Gallery in Los Angeles marks this shift towards exploring avenues that were once only explored by drug culture artists alone.
Complexly designed pieces like this one-of-a-kind bong conjure images of mysterious beings from another dimension. The beautiful colors and shapes draw the eye of anyone who sees it, even if not for use smoking cannabis. This bong features dragons, teddy bears, and mushrooms for all to appreciate both as visual feasts as well as ways to smoke through. This piece exemplifies functional glass’ limitless possibilities while showing its limitless beauty when artists push beyond boundaries of creativity and craftsmanship.
Scott Deppe has created another amazing piece of banjo glass art with this vapor dome featuring the faces and traits of various animals; such as giraffe’s heads, snakes, mushroom clouds and alien faces. This work of art serves both aesthetics and functionality; multiple openings for stem and bowl fitment allow it to store large quantities of weed while its large mouthpiece ensures that smoking pleasure is maximized.
“The Throne” makes its psychedelic aesthetic evident through its name. Conceived and designed by four visionary artists – Clinton Roman, Scott Deppe, Darby Holm and Banjo – who took their inspiration for its creation from visiting Peru’s Sacred Valley. At one million dollars it remains one of the most expensive functional pieces ever fabricated.
Even at its high price point, this vapor dome is worth investing in because of its artistic nature. Combining beauty, functionality and design elements into one stunning package makes this dome the ideal addition to any home or office environment.
Pop Culture Symbolism
People tend to associate banjos with country, folk or bluegrass music and may even see them as symbols of Appalachian region. Yet few know that its roots lie in Sub-Saharan West Africa – first brought over to America via slave ships in 1600s before gradually being improved upon by black musicians and innovators before eventually being abandoned among slaves themselves and becoming popular again through minstrelsy performances that used it mock the cultural heritage of African slaves.
The banjo’s history with race relations in America is complex. Once used to portray stereotypical black characters during minstrelsy’s golden age, its association with black culture persists to this day; yet many black people have since taken back up playing it, becoming integral components of modern American music.
One key way in which women have helped reclaim the banjo is through its revival through female musicians who use it to connect with their ancestors through song. Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Leyla McCalla all play part in Songs of Our Native Daughters project – an initiative which unites women from diverse backgrounds in songful tributes to their ancestral spirits – to showcase that both genders can utilize America’s true and authentic instrument in equal fashion.
This project includes both a record album and book that feature the work of multiple artists, featuring vocalists Giddens, Kiah and McCalla on one track, while on the other there are images of instruments created especially for this project by various artists commissioned for it. Together these represent a collaborative effort by historians and collectors of musical instruments to examine how instruments intersect with society.
Tanner was heavily influenced by French Realist painters such as Gustave Courbet and Jean-Francois Millet in his paintings such as The Banjo Lesson and The Thankful Poor, both remarkable works that give underprivileged subjects dignity and self-possession that seems unlikely in this era.
Functional Design
Functional design involves creating new systems for users’ specific needs and desires. The goal is to maximize efficiency and ease-of-use for every experience; the process includes conceptualization and analysis, user research and usability testing as part of this journey. Once this information has been gathered it guides technical design as well as helping predict success of new products or services; for instance the more user friendly a website is likely to be utilized by its visitors.
Functional glass has become an increasingly popular way for cannabis consumers to enjoy their herb. Each piece is intricate and stunningly artistic; often featuring themes associated with nature or cannabis culture – providing a truly stunning art piece to elevate the smoking experience.
Banjo has created an impressive body of work ranging from pop culture to natural themes, reflecting his love for nature. His functional pieces reflect this love while protecting it at the same time. Banjo draws much of his inspiration from pot smokers in Evergreen, Colorado who gather around him. You can see this influence reflected in his designs which feature bees and honeycombs.
Even though cannabis is legal in many states, the sale and possession of paraphernalia remains illegal – including bongs and pipes. Their functionality has proven attractive to new smokers as well as long-time cannabis smokers alike; with each item customizable for specific situations and uses.
Functional glass artists are experimenting with avenues previously dominated by painters, printers, photographers and sculptors. This movement has seen unprecedented growth over recent years and should continue its rapid ascension.
Functional glass art may still not be mainstream art, yet this perception is slowly changing as its quality and complexity increase. One such gallery that hosted an impressive showcase of functional glass was Grey Space Art Gallery in New York who recently held an exhibit of functional pieces worthy of being considered fine artworks.
Vapor Dome
These unique glass vapor domes provide a fully enclosed system to help capture all your precious vapor. Operating like regular dab nails or bangers, vapor domes can be used with any standard 14mm female joint to apply your favorite concentrate material and then cover it up using your dab tool, then watch as magic happens!
The Vapor Dome (TVD) is associated with the T-v diagram, a graphic depiction of temperature-specific volume (P v) relationships among substances that undergo phase changes between solid, liquid, and vapor states. The center line in T-v diagram represents where liquid and vapor phases meet; here you can estimate liquid/vapor quality based on percentages that exist as liquid states which is measured as vap-or quality.
Below the dome is saturated liquid while above it lies supercritical vapor. The shaded areas at the top of a T-v diagram represent where its critical point lies; above it it becomes impossible to differentiate liquid and vapor phases while below this critical point mixtures may shift from liquid to gaseous phases.
Banjo began creating functional glass art back in 1995, drawing his inspiration from LEGOs, Bluegrass music, his mom, Allis Chalmers farm tractors, robots, his dad Alex Grey’s old machinery and various forms of psychedelia. Since then he has gone on to craft some of the most intricate pieces available with unique features like sculpted faces, unique shapes, heady flairs and striking aesthetics – perfect for elevating any wax rig! If you are searching for the ideal additions to upgrade your wax rig look no further than The Banjo Glass Sculpted Face Vapor Dome Set!